The Ayala Corporation would secure a supply of 450,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines from United Kingdom-based AstraZeneca as part of its commitment to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the people, business tycoon Fernando Zobel de Ayala said.

Zobel, president and chief operator officer of Ayala Corp., said each dose of the AstraZeneca will cost around $5.50.

Ayala Corp. is among the several private companies that committed to secure AstraZeneca vaccine supply, wherein half will be donated to the government and the rest will be for their employees.

“We’ve decided to order 450,000 vaccines of AstraZeneca so the total donation that we will be giving to government will be about P120 million,” Zobel said during an online Palace press briefing.

“Government in turn has requested that 50 percent be given for individuals that the government selects; and 50 percent will be given back to the private sector so that we can also provide the vaccine for the people who need it,” he said.

Zobel said the private sector has also committed to help with the distribution of the vaccines, which he claimed would be “a very important component in making sure that the vaccines can get to the public.”

“Whether it’s AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, J&J, Novavax, or Sinovax, they have their own peculiar requirements for distribution,” he said.

Zobel said Ayala has so far spent P12.7 billion for various coronavirus response. He recognized that it was a time for both the government and private sector to work together to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, which he claimed has produced “so much suffering” in the country.

“The private sector has come through in a very big way with the call from the government and try to do everything that they could not only for their employees, their suppliers, but the public in general. I think we’re all here to help the country as a whole in the best way that we can,” he said.

“And so never in the history, at least in my career, have I seen so much work taking place between the private sector and the public sector,” he said.

He said they appreciate the government's recognition of the contributions of the private sector in dealing with the pandemic. “That’s greatly appreciated. And this will, of course, continue into next year,” he said.

“There’s a great spirit of collaboration among everyone to make sure that we get our country through this pandemic and through the many different challenges that we have been facing,” he added.

Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion had earlier said more than 200 local companies are interested to purchase another batch of COVID vaccines from the British vaccine maker.

The private sector had earlier signed a supply deal for 2.6 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines worth around P700 million. The supplies are expected to arrive this May or June.