Sanofi Pasteur has recently agreed to refund 1.4 billion pesos worth of unused Dengvaxia vaccines. They hope that this will allow them to work more openly with the DOH to address the recent controversy surrounding the vaccine.
They agreed to refund the unused Dengvaxia vaccines
Last Monday, January 15, Sanofi announced that in light of the demand letters sent by Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III, they will be providing a refund of 1.4 billion pesos for the unused vaccines.
According to their statement, "Sanofi Pasteur has responded positively to the Philippine Department of Health's request that we provide reimbursement for the doses of Dengvaxia that were not used by the government in the public vaccination program."
However, they maintained that the refund isn't because of any danger or safety issues with dengvaxia.
"Sanofi Pasteur strongly believes that this tone is due to a misunderstanding of the benefits and risks associated with the dengue vaccine and a lack of awareness amongst the general public, particularly parents of vaccinated children, that the overall benefit of dengue vaccination remains positive in high endemic countries like the Philippines," they added.
The government is still pushing for a full refund
Regardless of the offered refund, the Philippine government is still pushing for a full refund of 3.5 billion pesos.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said, "We welcome that refund but the position of the Department of Health (DOH) is for a full refund."
"Nonetheless, we view this latest step of the pharmaceutical company as a step in the right direction," he added.
He also maintained that even if Sanofi provides a refund, they will not go easy on the pharmaceutical giant.
The Dengvaxia vaccine recently became the topic of controversy. It was discovered that the vaccine had the potential to cause severe dengue for people who hadn't been infected by the virus before being immunized.
The vaccine was a part of a dengue immunization program for public school students.
Close to 900,000 Filipino children were vaccinated before the program was stopped.
Source: rappler.com
ALSO READ: Dengvaxia vaccine linked to deaths of 5 children
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