A record-breaking 1,500 participants representing 800 companies have attended a private sector briefing for COVID-19 vaccine led by Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion Monday.
Concepcion said the number of participants broke all the attendance in any vaccine briefing Go Negosyo has conducted.
“We have never hit this number of people ever since we’ve launched the ‘A Dose of Hope,’ so that shows that everybody here is eager to get out of this pandemic,” he said.
During the briefing, Concepcion noted that Kishore Hemlani, founder of Faberco Life Sciences Inc., (Faberco) has appointed Unilab Inc. (Unilab) to handle the private sector orders for the vaccines to combat COVID-19.
Unilab and Faberco earlier signed an agreement to make Covovax™ vaccine developed by Novavax and manufactured by Serum Institute of India (SII) and make it available to workers and employees of the private sector.
Concepcion said Unilab has set the minimum order at 200 doses with an option for smaller companies to consolidate among themselves which makes it more accessible especially for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
“Now, our role here is to support Unilab in its efforts to get orders. We will endorse all orders to Unilab, our staff will take down the orders and help follow through on any issues with them. That is the role that the Go Negosyo’s ‘A Dose of Hope’ will be playing in this program with Faberco and Unilab – use our experience in the initial program with AstraZeneca to really make the Novavax vaccine accessible to as many private sectors who need it, especially our MSMEs,” Concepcion added.
Concepcion stressed the need to help in the vaccination of workers, the most valuable asset of a company.
For his part, Hemlani said that safeguarding the health of workers through vaccination is of primordial concern.
“This is how we could show gratitude to our everyday heroes…
“Together with Unilab, your trusted quality healthcare partner, we will bring Covovax to the private sector to help our economy get back up,” Hemlani said.
“Bayanihan has always been a cornerstone of our policies… it has always been with us. So, we thought that this is a good vaccine and in the spirit of Bayanihan, we said, why don’t we offer it to the rest, and fortunately, Faberco said yes. They can take care of the government sector and we can take care of the private sector. We’re a 100 percent Filipino-owned company, we sink, and we swim with the country,” said lawyer Jose Maria Ochave, Unilab senior vice president for Social Partnerships, explaining how this initiative opened its doors to the private sector.
Dr. Nancy Bernal, Medical Director of Unilab, Covovax vaccine’s efficacy rate is currently set at 89.3% with no severe adverse effect.
Manolet Montinola, Unilab Vice President, said the partnership with the company includes its objectives, dosage and administration, age indication, supply chain management with focus on transport and storage.
The projected date of supply is in the third quarter of 2021.
The indicative cost for the vaccine is currently set at P1,000 per dose, exclusive of value added tax (VAT), inclusive of logistics and delivery nationwide to Department of Health-approved vaccination sites and hospitals.
“This is not including the cost of administering the vaccine which depends on the hospital or site where the vaccination will be administered—a hospital or site of choice of the private company that procured the vaccine, as long as the hospital or site is DOH-accredited,” she said.
Orders to Unilab also extend to family members of each employee given that the administration still follows the government’s prioritization.