THE government appears to be setting its tone for a shopping spree following the signing of a tripartite agreement with American vaccine manufacturer Moderna for the procurement of 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
In a statement, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez said that the government and business tycoon Enrique Razon are now locked in a cooperation that would see the business sector help the government meet its target of inoculating 50 to 70 million Filipinos by the end of the year.
“With the signing of this tripartite agreement, we can say that our bayanihan spirit is truly alive. We would like to express our deepest appreciation to Mr Enrique K. Razon, Chairman of ICTSI and representing the private sector, for his incessant support to the national government in our fight against this pandemic,” Galvez said.
“We would also like to thank Mr. Patrick Bergstedt and the whole Moderna Team for keeping up with their commitment in providing 20 million ‘doses of hope’ for 10 million Filipinos. Our special thanks to the Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel ‘Babe’ Romualdez for his continued intercession and introduction of Moderna to the national government,” the vaccine czar added.
The agreement assured the Philippine government of 13 million doses of Moderna vaccines. The private sector, represented by Razon gets seven million vaccine doses for its frontline workers.
To date, the government has only managed to inoculate 269, 583 medical frontliners and health workers from the 1.125 million donated vaccines coursed through the World Health Organization’s COVAX facility.
Galvez expressed optimism that the tripartite agreement would further boost the government’s chances of hitting its goal of having a “steady supply of vaccines” throughout the year.
“This is part of our goal to vaccinate 70 million of our adult population and recover the economy from the pandemic,” he said.