By Deighton Acuin

PHOTO: Military Times

Senator Richard Gordon said Monday that the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) will publicly offer coronavirus vaccines developed by American pharmaceutical firm Moderna Inc. for P3,500 per two shots.

During a media forum, Gordon said the agency has procured 200,000 doses from Moderna Inc., and some 1,500 doses are expected to arrive by July.

Gordon also clarified that the PRC is not “making money,” as the vaccine's price is only meant to recover from its expenses used just to secure vaccine supply.

“I’d like to set the record straight," he said. "Right now, we will be charging ₱3,500 to recover the cost of our payment of our vaccines from Moderna. But at the same time pay for our administrative cost,” he said.
 
“We have to have PPEs, we have to have our people fed and they have to have support in terms of the vaccination, and if you count the other things like electricity, and the ambulance, etc., I think that’s a fair thing to do,” Gordon added.
 
The humanitarian organization has been also administering free vaccines from Sinovac and AstraZeneca which came from the government’s initial inventory. 

However, according to Gordon, the line intended for reservations for those who preferred Moderna jabs is “getting longer and longer everyday.”
 
Meanwhile, the lawmaker said the government is “starting to pass on” some of the stored vaccines to the PRC due to looming concerns of the nearing expiration of 1.5 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses by June.
 
Gordon made the announcement after a meeting conducted with Testing Czar Vince Dizon, Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez Jr., and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Saturday, May 15.


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