Private sector no longer required to donate vaccines to government

Government will no longer require private companies to donate portion of their purchased AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to the government vaccination program, according to presidential adviser for entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion.

IATF vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. told Concepcion government will have enough vaccine in the coming weeks, thus the private sector will no longer be required to donate some of their doses.

“Secretary Galvez, two or three weeks ago, told me and they’re making it official that there is no need for us to donate anymore. I asked him why, and he said the government will have sufficient doses,” Concepcion said.

Concepcion said they initially asked the government to delay their donation to early next year because bulk of the vaccine deliveries will be in February 2022.

Concepcion added that the private sector is committed to help areas under NCR Plus (Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal, Laguna, Pampanga, Batangas) as well as Cebu and Davao in its vaccine supply.

Earlier, the private sector, local government units and national government signed a tripartite agreement for 17 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines.

Some 2.5 million doses of these vaccines are expected to arrive in July and August, signaling the start of vaccination of private company employees.