President Rodrigo Duterte announced that private firms would be allowed to buy their COVID-19 vaccines “at will,” as the Philippines record all-time high new daily cases of 10,016 on Wednesday.
“I have ordered Secretary [Carlito] Galvez to sign any and all documents that would allow the private sector to import at will, maski anong gusto nilang amount na ipasok, OK sa akin [whatever amount they want to bring in, is OK with me],” Duterte said during his weekly “Talk To The People” televised briefing.
The President said that there are many private companies that want to buy vaccines for their employees. “You know the reason why? So that the economy can be opened,” he said.
Duterte also said that the private sector will be allowed to buy COVID-19 vaccines “immediately.”
“There are so many restrictions, and workers come from all places, so it’s doubly hard for government to—alam mo ito, teka muna…mag-prangkahan tayo. Itong dumating na 1.2 million, tamang-tama lang ito sa mga frontliners, sa mga health workers… [Let’s be frank…the 1.2 million that have arrived are just enough for the frontliners, the health workers],” he said, referring to the one million doses of government-purchased Sinovac vaccine that arrived in the Philippines yesterday.
Duterte allows private firms to buy COVID-19 vaccines ‘at will’
After the ceremony held at Villamor Airbase in Pasay City with the arrival of the first batch of government-purchased Sinovac vaccines, they were immediately directed to the storage facility of the Department of Health in Concepcion-Uno in Marikina City.
In January, the private sector said it plans to get coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine from Novavax, a vaccine developer from India for companies wishing to pursue agreements with government and pharmaceutical firms.
Presidential Adviser on Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion has confirmed that they are in talks with Novavax for private companies that have not been able to keep up with the first 2 orders for AstraZeneca, but there is no final agreement yet.
Faberco Life Sciences is Novavax’s partner in the Philippines. They ensure that the price of the vaccine will be affordable.