Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. seems to be thumbing down the vaccine for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) offered by a Chinese state-owned firm to the Philippines.

Galvez said on Thursday night that the price being offered by China’s Sinopharm for its Covid-19 vaccine is “too expensive,” which is $76 or about P3,648 per dose.

“Even we can cut the price [in] half, it will be seven times higher that AstraZeneca,” Galvez said.

“It doesn’t make sense to buy Sinopharm when you can buy [an] equally safe and effective brand from China and from [the] US with [the] same or higher effects and efficacy,” he added.

Also, when it comes to “sense of fairness, equitable access, and cost efficiency,” Sinopharm will be “very problematic.”

Sinopharm came under fire for supplying the Presidential Security Group with Covid-19 vaccines that have yet to be approved by local regulators.

The local representatives of Sinopharm will be facing a Senate inquiry today (Friday). Earlier, the Chinese state-owned firm’s Philippine representatives said that the Department of Health (DOH) failed to act on its application to conduct clinical trials in the Philippines.

The DOH has denied such allegations. CURRENTPH