The Australian government has committed an additional AUD13.72 (P480.2 million) to help the Philippines procure COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) vaccines, Australian Ambassador to Manila Steven J. Robinson AO announced on Thursday.
In a tweet, Robinson said he has already informed Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., Health Secretary Francisco Duque, National Task Force against COVID-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez and his deputy Vince Dizon about the latest commitment from the Australian government.
The Australian envoy said the Philippines will receive the additional procurement and end-to-end distribution support to meet its needs under Australia’s new agreement with @UNICEF to purchase safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines.
“I have informed Secretaries @teddyboylocisn @SecDuque Galvez and Dizon of Australia's additional commitment of AUD13.72 (P480.2M) to buy #COVID19 vaccine for the Philippines. This will make an important contribution to meeting the country’s vaccine needs in 2021,” Robinson said in his social media post.
Locsin thanked the Australian government for its additional assistance to the Philippines.
This new commitment, according to Robinson, is in addition to their support through the Covax initiative to which Australia has contributed AU$130 million.
To date, the Philippines received a total of 5,025,870 doses from the Covax facility. Covax is the global pooled procurement to help ensure fair and equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, especially to low-income countries like the Philippines.
Robinson noted that Australia’s Vaccine Response Plan for the Philippines has also provided AUD7.52 million in Vaccine delivery support through UNICEF Philippines and the World Health Organization Philippines.