BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Tatak Kalamay, a local group of sugar industry stakeholders, is urging all stakeholders to support initiatives on vaccination against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
In a virtual conference facilitated by Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) Board members Atty. Emilio Dino Yulo and Atty. Roland Beltran and Tatak Kalamay, industry leaders were briefed by distributors of Covovax vaccine, a recombinant vaccine developed by United States’ Novavax Inc. and distributed locally by Faberco Life Sciences Inc.
Yulo said it is vital for the industry to support mass vaccination so that “we can protect our stakeholders, and industries heavy in sugar use can also go back to normalcy.”
“Pandemic-hit tourism, restaurants and schools were among our biggest consumers, and the soonest we can go back to normalcy through mass vaccination, the better,” he added.
The SRA officials, along with millers, various sugar federations, planters and local governments in sugar-producing areas are currently in talks with Covovax distributors on how to secure slots from the 30 million doses initially reserved by the Philippine government.
Yulo said what they find interesting with this vaccine was the fact that it has included in their trials the special immunocompromised group and the older population of 65 to 84 years old.
“It is also reasonably priced plus estimated logistical costs to Bacolod at P1,400 for two doses,” Yulo said.
“Our next step is to reach out to sugar federations all over the country as well as the local government units to speed up this process so we can help jumpstart the economy,” he said.
Tatak Kalamay, which has membership in almost all sugar-producing areas, will be mobilized in the vaccination campaign, Yulo added./PN
