The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Bureau of Animal Industry were urged to shorten the approval period of permit for African Swine Fever (ASF) vaccine from six months to one month.
AGAP Partylist Rep. Nicanor Briones and leader of the Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines said shortening the approval period of ASF vaccine could save many businesses.
“If we wait for the FDA to complete its processing protocol for the vaccine, many more pigs will die, our business will go bankrupt and prices of pork will tremendously increase,” Briones said in a statement on Tuesday.
He added that the vaccine’s trial last year was successful.
Briones said that 36 of the 41 pigs inoculated in Lobo, Batangas on August 30 survived ASF while developing antibodies for the disease.
“On September 30, blood samples will be taken again from these pigs. If tests show 70 to 80 percent antibodies in the animals, they are immune from ASF,” Briones added, noting P3.6 billion doses of vaccine was needed to inoculate hogs nationwide.
Briones said vaccination is the only way to curb the spread of the virus and help the swine industry recover from its losses.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered the expedited release of ASF vaccines, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu said on Tuesday.
“The first 10,000 doses will be finished… by the end of the month. The schedule for the award for the next 450,000 doses this October 10, of which we will take delivery of 150,000 doses by then,” Tiu said.
“We hope to complete the procurement of 600,000 doses by [the] end of December this year,” he added.
The Department of Agriculture and the FDA said 150,000 doses of the ASF vaccine from a Vietnam-based company have already been dispensed in September. The distribution prioritized eligible commercial farms, semi-commercial enterprises, and clustered backyard farms.
“Once confidence in this vaccine has been established, then they will start investing again in farms. Even the commercial ones will repopulate,” Tiu said, adding the DA plans an increase in hog production from the current 7.5 million to 14 million.
Be the first to comment