The Philippine government has sealed a tripartite deal with Moderna to receive 20 million doses of its vaccine.
Under the tripartite agreement between the private sector led by Enrique Razon and American drug maker Moderna, 13 million will be allocated to the government while 7 million were ordered by the private sector for its frontline workers.
“With the signing of this tripartite agreement, we can say that our bayanihan spirit is truly alive. We would like to express our deepest appreciation to Mr Enrique K Razon, Chairman of ICTSI and representing the private sector, for his incessant support to the national government in our fight against this pandemic,” Galvez said.
Galvez added that the signing of the tripartite agreement will help the government to realize its goal of having a “steady supply of vaccines” throughout the year.
“This is part of our goal to vaccinate 70 million of our adult population and recover the economy from the pandemic,” he said.
Negotiations to purchase Moderna jabs have been in progress since last year with the Philippine Ambassador to the United States Babes Romualdez.
Earlier, Romuladez said Moderna doses will arrive in May or June.
Meanwhile, Moderna noted they were working to apply for emergency use authorization in the Philipines.
The Moderna vaccine was found to be 94.1% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 after the second dose. It appeared to be slightly lower in people 65 and older.
