QUEZON CITY, (PIA) -- The Philippines on Friday, July 16, received the first shipment of AstraZeneca vaccines purchased by the private sector and local government units.

The shipment was procured under the "A Dose of Hope" program led by Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion has arrived in the Philippines on Friday morning at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1. 

The initial tranche consists of 1,150,800 doses, out of the 17 million combined orders of the private sector and some local government units (LGUs).

Nearly 500 private companies, from macro- to micro-level enterprises, have pooled their resources through a tripartite agreement with the National Government and AstraZeneca to secure a vaccine supply for the inoculation of their respective economic workforce. 

Concepcion, also the Go Negosyo Founder, conveyed that a portion from the bulk of the total AstraZeneca doses they have received will be directly donated to local government units (LGUs) and other governmental institutions that previously provided support to the private sector as it awaited the delivery of its procured vaccine stockpile. 

Concepcion also cited the coexistent roles of the national government and the private sector in achieving not just the population protection that is 50% based on geographical setting, but also reaching herd immunity.

He also appealed to get vaccinated.

“The private sector is one with the government in trying to really achieve helping save lives and livelihoods – and my appeal to the Filipino citizens, we bought the vaccine, but if you don’t take the vaccine, then we will not be able to succeed in beating COVID-19,” Secretary Concepcion said in a press conference.

Meanwhile, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, the country is headed for a better Christmas at the rate the government is ramping up the vaccination and stabilizing the jab stockpile. 

To date, the Philippines has already breached its 392,000 daily inoculation target out of the 500,000 prospect of the government.

Once reached, Duque said the country will be able to achieve herd immunity within 130 days given that the vaccine supply is permitting and the vaccination rate is steady at the targeted level. 

Also present to witness  the arrival of the anti-COVID jabs from the British-Swedish biopharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca were other officials of the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 and the Inter-Agency task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID). (PIA-NCR with reports from OJT Janna Pineda)