By Adrian H. Halili, Reporter
THE Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) said the government needs to expedite the approval of the African Swine Fever (ASF) vaccine for commercial use, citing the need to effect a recovery in hog farming.
“We hope that the (Food and Drug Administration) approves the vaccine,” SINAG Chairman Rosendo O. So said at a briefing on Thursday.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) said the approval for commercial use of the ASF vaccine could be issued by February or March. The DA allocated P350 million to procure 600,000 doses for the hog farmers initially targeted. The rollout started on Aug. 30 in Lobo, Batangas.
Only the AVAC ASF Live vaccine from Vietnam has been approved by the FDA for a limited government-controlled rollout. It has issued a Certificate of Product Registration for AVAC, valid for two years and subject to annual review.
“If the results of are good, at least hog raisers can start raising pigs again,” Mr. So added.
Some 88 municipalities across 19 provinces have active ASF cases, according to the Bureau of Animal Industry.
He said pork prices may remain elevated next year as the hog industry will take time to recover.
“Vaccination will just have started, and we know that it will take six months for farmers to sell their pig,” he said.
Additionally, Mr. So said that the government should conduct proper testing of the bird flu vaccine.
“We don’t want to just have a vaccination without a final trial of the bird flu vaccine,” he said, adding that the egg farmers are having the most problems with bird flu,” he added.
The DA has said that large-scale trial of the Avian Flu vaccine could begin by March.
The DA is looking to procure 30 million doses of the vaccine for about P300 million.