Red Cross says it's charging for cost of Moderna jabs, not selling vaccines
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Red Cross clarified it is not “selling” the COVID-19 vaccine developed by American pharmaceutical firm Moderna to the public.
In a statement Monday evening, PRC Governor Ma. Carissa Coscolluela said the humanitarian is “not in the business of selling any vaccines.”
The clarification was made after PRC Chairman Richard Gordon, who is also a senator, said the organization will offer Moderna jabs at P3,500 for every two doses when its orders arrive.
In a forum hosted by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines Monday morning, Gordon said the PRC purchased 200,000 doses Moderna vaccine and that the initial batch of about 1,500 shots was scheduled to arrive next month.
“I'd like to set the record straight. Right now, we will be charging P3,500 to recover the cost of our payment of our vaccines from Moderna but at the same time pay for our administrative cost,” Gordon said.
He added the reservation list for those who preferred to be inoculated with Moderna is “getting longer and longer everyday.”
'Not selling vaccines'
“To set the record straight, PRC Chairman Richard Gordon never announced that the Red Cross is selling vaccines. He stressed the need to act fast and vaccinate as many people as we can,” Coscolluela said.
“What he said was that the PRC procured Moderna COVID-19 vaccines and intends to vaccinate Red Cross members and donors, who are also our members, who are willing to bear the cost of the vaccines, which was US$26.83 (around P1,284) per dose plus an administration fee,” she added.
The administration fee covers the costs for syringes, gloves, personal protective equipment, meals and allowances of our doctors and nurses, and other essential expenses related to vaccination
The organization earlier said it was eyeing a “buy one, donate one” scheme to be implemented in its vaccination program. But Moderna rejected the proposal, Gordon said.
Morderna only has emergency use authorization in the Philippines, not a certificate of product registration. CPR allows manufacturers to sell a product commercially.
Since the Philippine launched its vaccination campaign on March 1, only 714,432 have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Meanwhile, 2.24 million have received the first of two doses of the vaccine.
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