BUSINESS PROCESS outsourcing firm听听is purchasing more than 6,000 vaccine doses for听its employees in the Philippines, who number more than听3,000.听鈥淥ur vaccination program will start as soon as the vaccines are delivered,鈥 said听Chief听People听Officer Sheena Ponnappan, who declined to specify which听brands听recommended by the Philippine government听were听procured听by听Everise.听
The company鈥檚 Experience Center听in听Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, will serve as the vaccination site. It aims to vaccinate at least 200 staff members a day.听
San Miguel Corporation听(SMC), for its part, is spending close to a billion pesos for a program to vaccinate all its 70,000 employees. Under the conglomerate鈥檚 鈥淟igtas听Lahat鈥 task force in coordination of government agencies,听听from across the National Capital Region (NCR), Davao, Laguna, and Pampanga have received their first COVID vaccine doses. Of these,听听were vaccinated from July 2听to听8.听听
SMC employees based in Bulacan and Cavite听are scheduled to get their jabs this week.听
In June, SMC transformed its 5,013 square meter sports complex in Pasig City into听. The SMC Sports Complex and Mandaluyong City鈥檚 La Salle Green Hills are听, and can accommodate 800 and 1,000 employees per day, respectively. The target is to operate 16 sites nationwide once the vaccines arrive.听听
The company has also been hiring and deploying medical professionals to various vaccination sites to boost the inoculation programs of local government units (LGUs).听
鈥淏asically, what we鈥檝e been doing is we mobilize our workers, assemble them together, and use our own resources, so that they can be vaccinated through our LGUs. This way, we can support the LGU鈥檚 vaccination targets, get more people back to work safely, and at the same time divert thousands away from vaccination sites to reduce crowding,鈥 SMC听President Ramon S. Ang said in a press statement.听
Other companies that have kick-started their employee vaccination drives last week are property developers听Cebu Landmasters, Inc. and Megaworld Corp., management and investment company First Philippine Holdings Corporation (FPH), as well as the MVP Group of Companies.听
Cebu听Landmasters, Inc. said it got over 10,000 Moderna jabs and partnered with AC Health and Velez Medical to administer them.听FPH similarly tapped AC Health, as well as Reliance United, as third-party vaccine administration providers to handle the vaccination in its headquarters and in its subsidiaries鈥 offices and sites.听听
FPH, which invests in the energy sector through its subsidiaries,听听at the First Gen Clean Energy Complex in Batangas City. It earlier procured the AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines through multi-party agreements with the vaccine manufacturers in partnership with the Philippine government.听
Others that have started inoculating their workforce are Megaworld Corp., which completed the vaccination of 95% (or 2,300 out of a total of 2,430) of its office-based employees, and the MVP Group of Companies, which听initiated its inoculation drive听on July 7.听听
Led by the MVP Group Vaccine Task Force, the first tranche of company-procured Moderna doses were administered to the conglomerate鈥檚 first batch of employees at Meralco Compound in Pasig City. Other vaccination facilities that will be activated this week are PLDT Sta. Ana in the City of Manila, Smart Tower in Makati City, Maynilad Balara in Quezon City, and NLEX Sta Rita in Bulacan.听
The听National听Government听听under the A4 priority group at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City in June 7. Among those vaccinated were delivery service riders, media personalities, food service crew, and teaching professionals.听听
More than 3.44 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide as of July 12, equal to 45 doses for every 100 people,听according to听.听According to its vaccination tracker, 8.81%听of听the Philippine听population听has听received at least one vaccine dose.听鈥斕P. B. Mirasol听听
