in photo: MVP Group Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan (fourth from left) and Meralco President and CEO Atty. Ray C. Espinosa (second from left) lead the launch of the #WeGotYourVac — MVP Group-wide Vaccination Program. With them are (from left) PLDT-Smart procurement officer and vaccine task force procurement lead Mary Rose de la Paz, Pasig City Administrator Atty. Jeron Manzanero, MPHHI COO and vaccine task force co-chair Dr. Jeffrey Staples and PLDT-Smart chief people officer and vaccine task force co-chair Gina Ordonez.
A staunch believer of the axiom, “Mens sana in corpore sano” (a sound mind in a sound body), business tycoon and leader Manuel V. Pangilinan kicked off yesterday its inoculation of 60,000 employees rendering essential work during the pandemic.
Led by the MVP Group Vaccine Task Force, the first tranche of company-procured Moderna doses were administered to the Group’s first batch of employees at Meralco Compound in Pasig.
The launch site is one of several facilities the Group has identified in administering all the vaccinations in National Capital Region+. Among those to be activated by the second week of July include PLDT Sta. Ana in Manila, Smart Tower in Makati, Maynilad Balara in Quezon City, and NLEX Sta Rita in Bulacan.
“Our vaccinees, through the essential services we offer groupwide – from hospitals, telecommunications and digital services, electricity, water, tollways and road infrastructure, media, and more — have been and will continue to be the key source of stability as the Philippines emerges from this global crisis,” Pangilinan says.
Each pilot site, to be manned mainly by frontliners from the Group’s own Metro Pacific Hospitals Holdings Inc. (MPHHI), is expected to vaccinate an average of 700 and up to 1,350 individuals per day.
For areas outside NCR+, the Vaccine Task Force will use a combination of MPHHI’s Philippines-largest private healthcare network, other Group-wide facilities, and selected malls across the country.
The Group previously announced that the MVP Group Vaccine Task Force ordered vaccines from Moderna and Astra Zeneca enough for more than 300,000 employees, dependents and household members, and the Group’s extended workforce. “Any talk about ending this pandemic begins with a fundamental imperative: the successful rollout of ethically-procured, safe, and effective vaccines to a significant majority of our people,” Pangilinan adds.
“Inoculating the population from the virus does not just reduce the number of infections and deaths—but minimizes the possibility of new mutations and variants, taking us a step closer towards the paramount goal of herd immunity,” he explains.
Prior to the pilot vaccination, the Group also launched a group-wide immunization education campaign to encourage employees to get inoculated.
The MVP Group Vaccination Program reinforces the conglomerate’s support for the government’s national vaccination rollout. Earlier this year, the Group helped ramp up LGU vaccinations by offering the expertise and available capacity of its largest NCR hospitals, which reached worker vaccination rates of up to 98% as early as March 2021.
Earlier this year, the Group helped ramp up LGU vaccinations by offering the expertise and available capacity of its largest NCR hospitals, where up to 98% of frontliners were vaccinated as early as March 2021.
The Group also showed solidarity with the national government and other members of the private sector with the ceremonial start of the vaccination rollout for the A4 sector last month. This was in partnership with the National Task Force Against COVID-19, Taskforce T3 (Test, Trace and Treat), and the Department of Health (DOH).