Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 9) — The first batch of AstraZeneca vaccines ordered by the private sector will arrive next week, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said on Friday.
“Hopefully by end of the month, we’re targeting about 1 million employees to be vaccinated,” Concepcion said in an online forum.
Ayala, Megaworld, and SM are among the private companies that ordered vaccines from the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company. The delivery was initially scheduled for June but it was delayed.
Concepcion is also pushing for the establishment of “safe spaces” in offices, malls, factories and other workplaces when 80 percent of vaccination or herd immunity is reached in buildings.
He said that with safe spaces, the government can allow businesses to go back to full operational capacity from the current 50%.
“It looks like it’s very possible in the case of office buildings and that alone is huge,” Concepcion explained. “You can have a lot of infection in a building similar to a condo but that’s a different story, we’re focusing on office work spaces and office buildings.”
He also said Health Secretary Francisco Duque is open to the idea but it is still being discussed along with other strategies for ramping up the economy.
