MANILA – Only AstraZeneca requires the private sector to donate a portion of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines they purchased to the government.
“In the case of AstraZeneca, [they] had a no profit program this is why a dose was at $5. We wanted to help the government medical frontliners and this is how we crafted the first tripartite agreement. And yes, it (still) stands,” Presidential adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said in an interview with GMA News Online on Sunday.
The private sector previously allocated around P120 million to procure 450,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, half of which will be donated to the government and administered to individuals chosen by the administration.
Concepcion, who is also the founder of Go Negosyo, added that Pfizer’s Moderna, Novavax and Covaxin does not have the same clause since they were also helping under the Go Negosyo Dose of Hope program.
Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr., in a separate interview, echoed Concepcion’s statement that private companies are not required to donate to the government anymore.
The Vaccination Program Act of 2021 allows private entities, in cooperation with the Department of Health and the National Task Force Against COVID-19, to purchase vaccines for their own use through a multiparty agreement.
The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), however, requested the government to allow the private sector to import and buy COVID-19 vaccines directly from accredited sources without restrictions or conditions.
According to the group, the government should speed up the procurement and rollout of the vaccines “to ensure the safety of our workers and people, improve consumer confidence, and hasten the recovery of our economy.”/PN
