The Philippines plans to procure an initial 50 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to ensure at least a quarter of its population gets inoculated next year, a top coronavirus task force official said on Monday. Carlito Galvez, the former general in charge of implementing the country's strategy to fight the coronavirus, said several embassies had been contacted about potential government-to-government arrangement for purchasing the vaccines. The government was evaluating 17 vaccines "for safety, efficacy, cost effectiveness", he said.