Members of the private sector are appealing anew to the government to allow second booster vaccinations to more Filipinos as over 1.5 million Covid-19 vaccines will be expiring by the end of July.
A total of 1,516,040 vaccines are expiring this month, prompting Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion to reiterate his call to the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC) on Tuesday, July 19.
Concepcion, a former economic adviser during the time of then president Rodrigo Duterte, is also a member of the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) formed by President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to help his administration achieve key economic goals.
Concepcion stressed that allowing second booster vaccinations to the members of the workforce will also help in achieving Marcos' goal of administering at least 23 million booster shots within his first hundred days in office.
“If you look at these expiring vaccines, that’s a lot of money,” Concepcion said during the Pandesal Forum held in Quezon City.
The expiring vaccines were acquired by the private sector through the tripartite agreement A Dose of Hope. Each AstraZeneca jab is estimated to cost at least US$5 each, while Moderna shots were bought for around US$27 for each dose.
The total expiring vaccines in warehouses are broken down as follow: Moderna (887,360) and AstraZeneca (628,680). Under the tripartite agreement, half of the vaccines acquired are shared with the government.
“The private sector has already proven that it is willing to get vaccinated. There is no need for mandates when it comes to the private sector. They don’t want to get sick and use up their sick leaves,” Concepcion said.
“Yes we have to focus on the first boosters, but the private sector bought these vaccines. This is my frustration," he stressed.
Concepcion has been asking that second boosters be administered to the workforce who are still not allowed to take second boosters.
The Philippines only allows second Covid booster jabs only to seniors 60 years and up, healthcare workers, and immunocompromised persons.