Galvez said that AstraZeneca, not the national government, required the private sector to donate 50% of COVID-19 vaccine doses.
Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said that AstraZeneca, not the national government, required the private sector to donate 50% of COVID-19 vaccine doses.
In a report on GMA News Online, Galvez on Tuesday said that the national government had never required the private sector to donate a portion of the COVID-19 vaccine doses they would procure to its national vaccination program.
Earlier, the private sector allocated some PHP 120 million to procure 450,000 AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses, half of which would be donated to the national government and vaccinated to individuals to be chosen by the administration.
During the Presidential press briefing, Galvez revealed that it was AstraZeneca that required the private sector to donate 50% of the COVID-19 vaccine doses it would procure to the national government.
“Para malaman ng ating mga mamamayan na nakikinig at nanonood, ‘yung AstraZeneca po ang nag-demand ng 50% na dapat meron po sa government,” Galvez said.
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Galvez also said that AstraZeneca had a corporate principle on equitable access and non-privileged access, as such, it required the private sector to allot a portion of the COVID-19 vaccines it would procure through a tripartite agreement to be donated to the national government.
Nonetheless, Galvez said that other pharmaceutical firms such as Sinovac, Moderna, and Novavax, which the private sector had entered supply agreements with, didn’t require them to donate to the national government.
Currently, the Vaccination Program Act of 2021 allowed private entities, in cooperation with the Department of Health (DOH) and the National Task Force Against COVID-19 (NTF COVID-19), to procure COVID-19 vaccines through a multiparty deal.
Earlier, the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) said that private firms can already procure COVID-19 vaccines through a tripartite agreement with the national government and vaccine manufacturers, and there’s no need to donate to the government anymore.
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