It's time to give back.
President Duterte said the Philippines will be donating $1 million to the COVAX Facility to repay its generosity as the country continues to receive coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines from the program.
Duterte made the statement as he revealed that the COVAX Facility has formally asked the Philippines, among other countries, for donations so they can get more COVID-19 vaccines that will be distributed to other nations.
In his pre-recorded public address late Monday evening, the President revealed that he answered the call of the COVAX Facility.
"They are asking for contributions para makabili pa sila (so they can buy more vaccines), to keep the operation running because they probably are running low of funds also," he said.
"As a beneficiary of the generosity of COVAX, and the desire also to help people, we will answer their pleadings of donation. The Philippines is giving $1 million... It's our turn also to return the goodwill they have shown," he added.
According to Duterte, the COVAX Facility has been one of the first to help the Philippines start the vaccination program against COVID-19.
"Napakabait ng COVAX sa atin (The COVAX Facility has been very good to us). At the time we needed it most, one of the earliest agencies to help us, aside from the contributions made by China," he said.
"We were recipients of COVAX vaccines many times and it has helped a lot in our desire to vaccinate Filipinos," he added.
The COVAX Facility is a mechanism led by the World Health Organization (WHO) designed to guarantee rapid, fair, and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines worldwide.
To date, the country has received 2,749,050 COVID-19 vaccines from the COVAX Facility:
- 487,200 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines on March 1
- 38,400 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines on March 7
- 2,030,400 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines on May 8
- 193,050 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines on May 10