San Miguel Corp to spend P1 billion for free vaccination of all its employees

San Miguel Corp. (SMC) will spend nearly P1 billion to vaccinate all of the company's 70,000 employees and extended workforce for free.

In a press release, the company said the program aims “to help the country in its effort to build a collective defense against COVID-19.”

SMC said that it has already secured doses from various sources and is currently laying the groundwork for its vaccination strategy. The vaccines, according to the company, are compliant with the safety protocols and are authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Association (FDA).

To date, the vaccines that have been given emergency use authorization by the FDA are the vaccines of Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, and Sinovac.

SMC said that the vaccines will be administered on a voluntary basis, but SMC President Ramon S. Ang said he hopes  all eligible employees will sign up to be inoculated when the vaccine becomes available.

“It is our civic duty and our best chance at protecting ourselves and those we love. It is the best thing we can do today to help contain this pandemic, protect the vulnerable, and help speed up economic recovery,” Ang said, adding that the business sector will play an important role in vaccinating enough people to reach herd immunity.

SMC is the country’s largest food and beverage conglomerate that now has diversified interests in power, infrastructure, oil, and cement.

The national government’s vaccination efforts have been delayed until now, with no definite date yet expected for the expected arrival of the supposed vaccines.