The Department of Health (DoH) defended its decision to use a 0.5 milliliter (mL) syringe in its vaccination program, saying it has complied with all government procurement rules.

The Ministry of Health also stated that it does not have any ongoing procurement of 0.3 ml syringes and hopes to ensure continuous supply.

The answer is that Foreign Minister Teodoro Locsin Jr. stated in a tweet on Saturday that the government "abandoned" its plan to purchase 50 million 0.3 ml syringes for the second time.

The syringe will be used for vaccine mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) platforms, such as Pfizer and Moderna.

The Ministry of Health stated in a statement that although it has received an offer for the supply of 0.3 ml syringes, it cannot act on the unsolicited recommendations, but "includes the company in its pool of suppliers to urgently purchase 0.5 ml syringes. .syringe,"

It also stated that DoH has responded to the company's inquiries from DoH procurement technicians, but when the company questioned the approved budget or the highest contract price, DoH had to reiterate its position on the bid because it was too low. The highest price limit maintained in the implementation rules and regulations of the "Government Procurement Law".

"There seems to be a series of misunderstandings on this issue. First, the Ministry of Health does not currently purchase 0.3 ml syringes.... What we purchase is 0.5 ml syringes. As part of our suppliers, we have invited as many supplies as possible. To obtain the most favorable price for the government,” Health Minister Francisco Duke 3rd added.

Duque added that its regional offices and hospitals have received funds to purchase tuberculin syringes, which have been used as substitutes due to the continuing shortage of syringes.

He further stated that the 0.3-ml syringes purchased from UNICEF are not comparable to the 0.5-ml syringes purchased by the government at a price of 2.38 pesos each.