Private sector to start vaccinating workers vs COVID-19 in July

A health worker inoculates a resident with a dose of the AstraZeneca/Oxford Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine inside a Catholic church turned into a vaccination centre in Manila on May 21, 2021. (Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP)

MANILA, Philippines — The private sector-led vaccination of its workers is expected to begin next month when its vaccine orders arrive, according to Joey Concepcion, the presidential adviser for entrepreneurship.

Speaking at the symbolic vaccination of private, public, and informal sector workers, Concepcion said the vaccine orders of the private companies, which include some 2.5 million doses of AstraZeneca would arrive in mid-July and August.

The private sector would also get a small share of the Moderna vaccines that would be delivered to the country at the end of the month, Concepcion said.

Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. of the National Task Force Against COVID-19 said 250,000 vModerna doses were set to arrive by June 21, of which 55,000 would go to the private sector.

As for the Novavax and Covaxin doses that the private sector had ordered from India, Concepcion said their arrival would be slightly delayed and expected to be delivered in the late portion of the third quarter.

This was due to the prohibition on exports by India after it experienced a surge in coronavirus infections and a record-high number of deaths, he said.

While the private sector is waiting to conduct its own inoculation, Concepcion said it had been getting help from local governments, which had also been vaccinating workers within their jurisdiction.