AstraZeneca required private sector to donate half of procured vaccines to nat’l gov’t

Vaccine czar Sec. Carlito Galvez Jr. File photo from the Senate PRIB

MANILA, Philippines — It was British-Swede pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca that required the private sector to donate 50 percent of COVID-19 vaccines it ordered to the national government, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. made clear on Tuesday.

“Wala po tayong agreement sa Moderna, wala po tayong agreement sa Novavax at wala po tayong agreement na Sinovac or other companies na kailangan nilang magdonate ng 50 percent. Only AstraZeneca demanded the 50 percent,” Galvez said in an online briefing when asked if the private sector is required to donate to the government half of its procured vaccines.

(We don’t have an agreement with Moderna, Novavax, Sinovac or other companies that they need to donate 50 percent of their vaccines. Only AstraZeneca demanded the 50 percent [donation].)

Galvez said that one of AstraZeneca’s corporate principles was to provide “equitable access” to COVID-19 vaccines.

“Meaning, ang purpose ng private sector ay para ma-balance na yung 50 percent na bibilhin. Ibibigay po iyon sa mga marginalized targeted population ng public sector,” Galvez explained.

(Meaning, the private sector’s purpose is to balance 50 percent of what they will buy. This will be allotted to the marginalized targeted population of the public sector.)

“So sila po ang nag-demand, hindi po ang national government,” he further said.

(It was them who demanded it, not the national government.)

The national government, local government units (LGUs) and the private sector earlier signed a tripartite deal to secure 17 million doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 shots.

The 17 million includes the 2.6 million doses secured by private companies back in November 2020, 50 percent of which will be donated to the national government.

JPV