By Alec Go
Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion clarified today that the government has been working with the private sector for its access to vaccines amid circulating “misinformation” on the matter.
Rumors have circulated that the government has required a 50% vaccine donation from the private sector before they are permitted to procure vaccines.
Citing talks with British-Swedish biotechnology company AstraZeneca, Concepcion explained the latter can only sell its COVID-19 vaccines to the government since the product is currently under emergency use authorization (EUA).
“[We] had a conversation with the government, through [Vaccine Czar] Secretary Carlito Galvez, to allow us to procure on their behalf—with the private sector paying for the vaccines, but all the vaccines would still be under the government’s property and regulation,” he stated.
The endorsement for the procurement which Galvez has accepted covers the 50% allocation for the private sector to be used for its personnel and 50% for government frontliners.
A tripartite agreement was finalized with the “A Dose of Hope” initiative launched on November 27 last year to secure the deal, which Concepcion said was made possible primarily by the government through Galvez, by AstraZeneca, and by company donors.
Read more: “A Dose of Hope”: Private sector procures vaccines for employees with government help
The tripartite agreement model has already been adopted for succeeding vaccine purchase negotiations covering Moderna, Novavax, and Covaxin.
“The overall portion for the private sector would be around 15 to 20 million doses coming from AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Novavax. Hopefully, once the EUA of Covaxin is approved, there is a chance that one million doses of the Covaxin will arrive in the second quarter to be allocated for the private sector,” Concepcion said.
In terms of logistics, doses from AstraZeneca and Moderna will be handled by Zuellig Pharma Corporation while Novavax will be shouldered by Unilab.
50% of doses for NCR as cases rise
Concepcion said the initial batch of AstraZeneca vaccines of around 2.6 million doses “will be coming in by May and June.” He added that they suggested directing the half of the donation to priority sectors in NCR.
“As the NCR now serves as the epicenter of the resurgence of cases, together with Tessie Sy-Coson of the SM Group and Ramon Ang of San Miguel Corp., we proposed to the government to direct the 50% donation to government priority sectors in NCR,” he shared.
“This can be done as soon as the doses for May and June arrive. This may also coincide with the inoculation of our economic frontliners, to which the other half of the doses are allocated for,” he added.
Moreover, the private sector is extending assistance in the entire processing of the donated vaccines also through “providing logistical and supply chain management services.”
