The national government, local government units (LGUs), and private sector have signed for the second time an agreement for the purchase of 14 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
A total of 39 LGUs have taken part in the agreement while more than 300 companies have joined forces for the provision of free three million doses of the vaccine to the government.
In total, nearly 17 million doses have been secured by the government through the private sector. The vaccines are meant to be distributed to the vulnerable sector, including frontline workers.
President Rodrigo Duterte expressed his “full support” for the parties in his speech during the event.
“Together, we can ensure a safe, sure and secure roll-out of our national immunization program. Let us reaffirm our vow to ourselves and renew our guarantee to our people,” he enjoined.
“Our tripartite agreement is a true showcase of unity, of purpose, and principled partnership benefitting our public. This is bayanihan at work,” he added.
Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez Jr. emphasized that the government is not favoring some vaccine products over others, saying that the decisions made are science-based.
The vaccine has a reported effectivity of 70 percent which requires 2 degrees Celsius temperature for its storage. He is scheduled to inspect cold storage repositories next week.
Aside from AstraZeneca, the government has already secured 30 million doses from Novavax and 25 million doses from Sinovac.
“The vaccine will be free for all Filipnos. Lahat ng LGU walang maiiwan. Ang binili nating vaccine is good for 50 to 70 million Filipinos and next year we will have a second wave (No LGU will be left behind. The vaccines we will buy are good for 50 to 70 million Filipinos and next year we will have a second wave),” Galvez stated. – Report from Naomi Tiburcio
