Philippines Offers to Pay More to Get Earlier Vaccine Deliveries

The Philippines is offering to pay more to get earlier coronavirus vaccine deliveries, hoping to avert a supply crunch this quarter as the bulk of its orders this year will only come in the second half.

“We are negotiating to have early deliveries, even if the vaccines will be slightly more expensive,” vaccine czar Carlito Galvez said at a televised meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte. “This is our big problem: because of global demand our supply is very thin in the first quarter.”