Senator lauds initiatives to procure vaccines

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Bong Go praised the combined efforts of the national government, local government units (LGUs) and the private sector for delivering a timely and effective national vaccination program for Filipinos.

Go virtually attended Thursday the signing of a memorandum of agreement for the procurement of 17 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines between the government, participating LGUs, private sector donors and drug firm AstraZeneca.

The private sector pledged to donate 2.6 million doses of the vaccine from AstraZeneca through the ‘A Dose of Hope’ program last November. A similar deal was also signed to secure an additional 14.4 million doses for the country. The first batch of vaccines is expected to arrive by July.

Go, Senate committee on health chairman, stressed the importance of a whole-of-nation approach in addressing the challenges of the pandemic and uplifting the lives of the people.

“This is a true showcase of how the Philippine government and private groups can unite in protecting its people against the pandemic. To everyone involved in the ‘A Dose of Hope’ project, I congratulate you on this achievement and may you never tire in supporting our countrymen and women, especially those who need it the most,” Go said.

The ‘A Dose of Hope’ project is an initiative of the private sector to procure vaccines for the government. It is led by Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion.

“We are all part of the solution to this public health issue. Therefore, we must all share the responsibility if we want to recover from this pandemic,” Go added.

He urged authorities to ensure that the poor and vulnerable sectors as well as the medical and uniformed frontliners are prioritized in the vaccine distribution.

The senator said the government’s top priorities this year are addressing hunger, immunization and promotion of economic recovery by providing more job opportunities.

He also reminded Filipinos that until the nation has achieved herd immunity, everyone must diligently take the necessary precautions to protect themselves from the virus, reduce its transmission and help make their communities safer.