Chargé d’Affaires John Law announces that the United States will provide Philippines a P170 million assistance to support Department of Health (DOH) in its Covid-19 vaccine roll-out

The United States  has provided  P170 million in financial assistance to support the Department of Health (DOH) in vaccine distribution. 

The P170-million or $3.5-million new assistance brought the US government’s Covid-19 response support to the Philippines to nearly P1.3 billion or $27 million. The financial support aims to strengthen the country’s healthcare system and vaccine delivery efforts.

The assistance was announced by US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires John Law during a visit to a vaccination site in Caloocan City with Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and Caloocan City Mayor Oscar Malapitan. 

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Philippines Mission Director Lawrence Hardy II and other US and Philippine officials were also present during the announcement. 

USAID will support the Philippines in delivering communication campaigns addressing the issue on vaccine hesitancy and to plan, track, and administer vaccine roll-outs, the US Embassy said in a statement.

The White House recently announced a $4-billion financial support to Covax facilities for 92 countries including the Philippines. The purchase and distribution of safe and successful Covid-19 vaccines will be funded by an initial $2 billion grant from USAID.

The Philippines will receive enough vaccines  to immunize at least 20 percent of its population through the Covax initiative, of which the United States is the main donor, by the end of 2021, the embassy said. H.B. Oledan