The COVID-19 vaccination program in the Philippines was a mass immunization campaign against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), in response to the pandemic in the country. The vaccination program was initiated by the Duterte administration on March 1, 2021, a day after the arrival of the country's first vaccine doses which were donated by the Chinese government.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued emergency use authorizations (EUA) to 10 COVID-19 vaccines (in chronological order): Pfizer–BioNTech, Oxford–AstraZeneca, Sinovac, Sputnik V, Janssen, Covaxin, Moderna, Sinopharm BIBP, Sputnik Light and Novavax.

As of February 19, 2023, 166,423,405 total vaccine doses have been administered throughout the country, with 73,873,958 being fully vaccinated, 21,500,083 booster doses administered.

Background and timeline

The COVID-19 Immunization Program Management Organizational Structure was formed on October 26, 2020, to facilitate the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in the Philippines, however this was replaced by a vaccine cluster within the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) by November 6, 2020. Carlito Galvez Jr. was appointed to lead the cluster under the title of vaccine czar. The Philippine National Vaccination Program and Implementation Plan was also approved by November 6, 2020.

Preparation Organizations involved The COVID-19 Immunization Program Management Organizational Structure was formed on October 26 with the intention of it overseeing the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines once these became available. However, by November 6, the vaccine body was abolished and replaced with a vaccine cluster within the National Task Force Against COVID-19 of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID). The vaccine cluster is distinct from the national task force's COVID-19 response cluster.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on their part is the agency tasked to review and approve the use and commercial distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in the Philippines as well as the issuance of an emergency use authorization for the same.

Delivery plan

The national government planned to roll out its vaccination program around February expecting the delivery of Pfizer's vaccines sourced from the COVAX facility and the first batch of Sinovac's vaccines, consisting of 50,000 doses. The delivery of Pfizer's vaccines was delayed due to documentary issues.

The government planned to start a full rollout or mass vaccination for the general populace around late 2021.

Regulatory approval Under normal circumstances, drugs and vaccines are reviewed for approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under a period of six months. President Rodrigo Duterte to fast-track the government's medical response to the pandemic signed an executive order on December 2, 2020, which allowed the FDA to grant emergency-use authorization (EUA) to COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. An EUA for a particular vaccine would authorize the government to buy said vaccine and allow to use the same for the vaccination program. An EUA would not authorize the commercial use of such vaccines or consent the use of the vaccine for personal use.

The EUA approval process by the FDA is covered under FDA Circular No. 2020-036.

An EUA granted for COVID-19 vaccine or drug remains valid if it fulfills three conditions:

Based on the totality of evidence including data from adequate and well-known controlled trials, it is reasonable to believe that the drug or vaccine may be effective to prevent, diagnose or treat COVID-19. The known and potential benefits of the drug or vaccine...outweigh the known and potential risks, if any. There is no adequate, approved, and available alternative to the drug or vaccine.

The EUAs validity ends one year from the lifting of the public health emergency status declared in response to the pandemic or one year from the date it was registered if a COVID-19 drug or vaccine gets fully registered with the FDA.

Among the conditions for a vaccine manufacturer to secure an EUA in the Philippines is to obtain prior EUA in its country of origin or other countries with a "mature" regulator. No manufacturer would be allowed to obtain an EUA in the Philippines first. For the purpose of the FDA's EUA approval process, the following foreign regulators are considered as "mature":

Therapeutic Goods Administration (Australia) Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (Japan) Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (South Korea) Health Canada Health Sciences Authority (Singapore) Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products (Switzerland) Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (United Kingdom) Food and Drug Administration (United States) European Medicines Agency (European Union)

Vaccine manufacturers applied for EUA The FDA announced that three vaccine manufacturers namely Pfizer–BioNTech, AstraZeneca, and Sinovac have inquired on the process of obtaining an EUA in the Philippines.

Rollout

The Philippines' vaccination officially began on March 1, 2021, shortly after the arrival of the first batch of vaccines from Sinovac. Prior to the official roll-out, a dry run was conducted to ensure that the vaccines, especially temperature-sensitive ones, would be rolled-out with minimal problems.

In February 2021, the Food and Drug Association recommended against the usage of Sinovac vaccines for health care workers due to its low efficacy rates in trials on health care workers in other countries. It has recommended its usage instead to the vaccine to the working population and military personnel.

The National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) on February 26 has approved the use of the Sinovac vaccine to health care workers. Health care workers are still allowed to not take the vaccine and wait for a more effective vaccine. Philippine General Hospital (PGH) employees demanded for a better vaccine and an increase with their hazard pays.

At a press conference, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque stated that health care workers can refuse the Sinovac vaccine and wait for the vaccines from Pfizer–BioNTech, Moderna, and Oxford–AstraZeneca while still being prioritized but other prioritized groups shall only get what is available in their locality.

The rollout for the Philippines' national vaccine program began on March 1, 2021, shortly after the arrival of 600,000 doses of Sinovac's vaccine. Philippine General Hospital director and doctor Gerardo Legaspi officially became the first recipient of a COVID-19 vaccine in the country. The initial batch will cover around 50,000 military personnel and 250,000 health workers. As of March 3, 2021, vaccinations has been limited to Metro Manila and to health workers. However, select government officials were vaccinated in a bid to boost confidence on the vaccine.

On March 6, 2021, Oxford–AstraZeneca, under the COVAX facility, began the rollout. Health workers who refused Sinovac's vaccines were prioritized.

In May 2021, the rollout of vaccines from two manufacturers began. The rollout of the Sputnik V vaccines began on May 3 with five cities of Metro Manila; namely Makati, Manila, Taguig, Parañaque, and Muntinlupa. The deployment of Pfizer started on May 12, beginning in two cities in Metro Manila (San Juan and Makati). On June 30, 2021, the Moderna vaccine began its rollout in Metro Manila including San Juan. On July 20, 2021, the Janssen vaccine began being rolled out in Tacloban. On August 12, 2021, Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez Jr. announced that recipients of the Sputnik V vaccine as their first dose can receive the AstraZeneca vaccine as their second dose provided that the shipment of Sputnik V is delayed due to logistical issues.

Vaccination of minors began in mid-October 2021. At that time, emergency use authorizations for the use of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines for minors (ages 12–15 for Pfizer; age 12-17 for Moderna) has been granted.

To hasten the immunization program, the government announced that it was holding "National Vaccination Days" on November 29 until December 1. November 29 and December 1 will be special working days. Initially targeted to immunize 15 million people, it was reduced to 9 million due to logistics issues surrounding the syringes for Pfizer vaccines.

Issuance of vaccine certificates

Upon being vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine, the local government unit (LGU) or recognized private healthcare providers issue a vaccine card that shall act as proof of vaccination. Later on, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) in coordination and the Department of Health along with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) for a centralized registry for COVID-19 vaccinated residents under a common digital vaccine ID that shall feature a unique QR code.

Since September 6, 2021, the VaxCERTPH, the national digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate was launched to serve as the official COVID-19 vaccination certificate for international and domestic travel for fully vaccinated Philippine citizens and residents. The digital certificate is based on the international standards as prescribed by World Health Organization (WHO). Vaccination records for the VaxCERTPH certificate are based on the Vaccination Information Management System (VIMS), managed by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) based on the uploads by the local government units in the Philippines. In 2022, the VaxCERTPH has since updated vaccination certificates that would include additional booster shots.

At the same time since July 2021, the Bureau of Quarantine in the Philippines has begun issuing a new format of the International Certificate of Vaccination (ICV) to fully vaccinated Philippine citizens and residents for international travel provided that the COVID-19 vaccine is listed under the Emergency Use Listing (EUL) by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Recognition of vaccination certificates On July 4, 2021, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has permitted domestic travel within the Philippines for fully vaccinated individuals that have been vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine under the Emergency Use Listing (EUL) by the World Health Organization (WHO) or have been granted an emergency use authorization (EUA) or a compassionate special permit (CSP) issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The same rules applies for fully vaccinated international travelers from countries and territories deemed as "low-risk" and can receive a reduced quarantine period of seven days.

On October 8, 2021, the IATF introduced revised guidelines that fully vaccinated travelers from "low-risk" (green list) and "moderate-risk" (yellow list) jurisdictions can receive a reduced facility-based quarantine up to five days upon presentation of a national digital certificate issued by a foreign government with a reciprocal agreement with the Philippines.

On October 13, 2021, the IATF subsequently permitted the entry of fully vaccinated travelers from "low-risk" (green list) countries and jurisdictions to skip facility-based quarantine provided there is a presentation of negative RT-PCR test result within 72 hours before departure from their country. This policy was later to the presentation of a negative RT-PCR test result within 48 hours before departure from their country.