Tycoons and Private Sector Raise Vaccine Contribution to P800 Million
From an initial commitment of P600 million, Filipino businesses have now upped their contribution to the Philippines’ vaccination effort to a whopping P800 million ($16 million).
This is now enough to buy three million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca. This UK-based pharmaceutical’s vaccine requires two doses of the vaccine in order to develop immunity. As such, the Philippines first batch of vaccines should be enough to vaccinate roughly 1.5 million Filipino frontliners.
This is according to JG Summit CEO Lance Gokongwei, who is participating in the vaccination effort, representing one of the biggest conglomerates in the country.
Gokongwei and JG Summit have joined the likes of Enrique Razon of ICTSI, Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala of Ayala Corp., Teresita Sy-Coson of SM Group, Ramon Ang of San Miguel, Lucio Tan of LT Group, and many more.
"As part of the private sector, we recognize that we are all part of an interlinked society. Dapat walang turuan, walang iwanan, walang kanya-kanya," Gokongwei said.
Half of the vaccines will be given to the Department of Health for distribution, and most vaccines will be prioritized for frontliners such as healthcare workers and essential workers in the private sector.
