JAPAN, US GRANTS BOOST PH WAR CHEST VS COVID-19

The Philippines’ war chest to fight the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic inched up to $30.46 billion (about P1.53 trillion) or 8.63 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) as of July 26, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said.

This was up from $30.45 billion or 8.62 percent of the 2019 GDP in June, according to the latest update to the ADB COVID-19 Policy Database.

The newest addition to health support measures included grants and donations from the

Japanese and US governments, such as medical equipment and COVID-19 vaccines.

For instance, the ADB noted that Japan extended a 687-million yen (about P308 million) grant for cold-chain transport and ancillaries to be used in the Philippines’ mass vaccination program.

Vaccine donations

Japan also donated 1.12 million doses of AstraZeneca, which arrived on July 9.

Meanwhile, the United States donated 420 intensive care unit beds worth P23.9 million, which arrived in the Philippines on July 15, the ADB noted.

Also, 1.6 million doses or half of the 3.2 million single-dose Johnson & Johnson committed by the United States through the COVID-19 vaccines global access facility (COVAX) arrived in the country on July 17.

These increased to 164 million doses the total vaccines acquired by the Philippines as of July 22, which also included 40 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, 26 million of Sinovac, 13 million of Moderna and 10 million doses of Sputnik V, the ADB said.

In Asean, the Philippines’ war chest against COVID-19 was eclipsed by those rolled out by Malaysia ($143.3 billion or 43.5 percent of GDP); Indonesia ($115.33 billion or 11.35 percent of GDP); Singapore ($101.07 billion or 30.52 percent of GDP); and Thailand ($100.66 billion or 20.58 percent of GDP).