The private sector has offered to prioritize Metro Manila in the distribution of its vaccine donations given the capital region remained the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.
Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion discussed with vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. the proposal to allocate the initial AstraZeneca vaccine donations to the government’s frontliners situated in Metro Manila.
“We are now seeing a resurgence of cases in the country and the epicenter of these cases is the NCR. Considering the situation and with the arrival of the first batch of our order from AstraZeneca this May and June—half of which would be donated to the government for its frontliners—we are recommending to Secretary Galvez and the whole of our government, together with Tessie Sy-Coson of SM Group and Ramon Ang of San Miguel Corporation, to direct the 50% donation intended for government priority sectors in NCR,” Concepcion said.
According to Concepcion, the private sector is prepared to pay for the vaccination of its economic frontliners as well as those under the donation for the public sector. He mentioned that the donation of the private sector was done voluntarily.
A swift vaccine rollout, he added, would help ensure faster economic recovery in the country.
"We, in the private sector, volunteered to donate half of the vaccines to our government frontliners to achieve our common goal of vaccinating the population as fast as possible. In this way, the faster the population would be vaccinated, the faster the economy shall bounce back,” the Go Negosyo founder said.
In January, the Philippines secured 17 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines, including around 5 to 6 million procured by the private sector, to help boost the immunization drive against the coronavirus. The initial batch of the vaccine supply is expected to arrive in the country by May or June.
Concepcion considered the coronavirus vaccine as the "nuclear warhead in this war against COVID-19.” He also recognized that the private sector's vaccine procurement was only made possible due to the government's support.
"From the time when we volunteered to give half of our procured doses to our government frontliners, we have been hand-in-hand with the government in combating this pandemic. And now with the final stage of this battle, given the conditions of this war, I suggest that our arsenal shall be focused on where most of our enemies are present right now, in NCR," he said.
"After eliminating this huge threat, it would be easier for us to defeat the smaller enemies that we can find in other regions,” he added.
In recent weeks, the country has seen a rapid increase in daily cases of coronavirus, pushing the total to 684,311 as of March 24.
Metro Manila, which is under general community quarantine until April 4, has so far tallied 287,360 cases with 4,933 deaths. There are currently 45,450 active cases in the capital region.
With the country's surging cases, Concepcion also pushed for the "steadfast" implementation of testing, tracing and treatment efforts to address the health emergency.
"We really have been stable and we should continue with our targeted testing, proper and serious tracing, and applying appropriate treatment, most especially that the nationwide immunization program of the government has already started,” he said.