PH Red Cross to offer Moderna’s COVID-19 jab for P3,500 per 2 doses – chairman

FILE PHOTO: Walmart pharmacist holds a vial of the Moderna coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine inside a Walmart department store as Walmart and other major U.S. pharmacies take part in the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, to increase vaccinations in the U.S. in West Haven, Connecticut, U.S., February 17, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Segar/

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) will be offering the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at P3,500 for two doses, its chairman said Monday.

“The vaccine procurement was quite slow. But now they’re catching up. But before they could catch up, we have already ordered 200,000 Moderna doses, so we’re going to vaccinate 100,000 people,” said Senator Richard Gordon, who is also chairman of the PRC, during a Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) forum.

“We will be charging P3,500 to recover the cost of our payment of the vaccines from Moderna,” he added.

According to Gordon, the P3,500 cost for two Moderna vaccine doses would also cover PRC’s administrative costs.

“We have our PPEs (personal protective equipment sets), we have to have our people fed and they have to have support in terms of the vaccination and if you count the other things and the other things. I think that’s a fair thing to do,” he said.

Based on DOH’s May 11 data, 83 percent of the 7,764,050 available doses of COVID-19 vaccines – CoronaVac, AstraZeneca, and Sputnik V – in the country have already been distributed.

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Meanwhile, a total of 2,539,693 doses have been administered to those belonging under the A1 (healthcare workers), A2 (senior citizens), and A3 (persons with comorbidities) categories of the government’s vaccination priority list.

“We’re not allowed to sell by Moderna. Initially, I was kind of peeved that they thought that we were selling because I wanted to make sure that the poor people also get Moderna. Why should those who can afford only get it?” Gordon also said.

“There’s one company that says ‘we will vaccinate 7,000 of our employees with Moderna and we’re willing to add 7,000 for the poor’,” he added.

Earlier, Gordon said PRC’s vaccination campaign would allow vaccine recipients to donate for the vaccination of those who cannot afford the anti-COVID shots.

“That was the whole objective, but since that is not acceptable to Moderna, we have to follow, we’re not gonna do that, but you know, you fall in line, pay the cost and we’re fine,” he added.

According to Gordon, he has already received text messages from “a lot of people” asking to “put them into the line.”

Some 1,500 doses of the Moderna vaccine will come by June, the senator noted.

“Then it will start coming in July and we hope for the next few months, because it’s not gonna happen overnight,” he added.

KGA