SMC opens La Salle Greenhills vaccination site

MANILA, Philippines — San Miguel Corp. (SMC) on Wednesday launched its P1-billion vaccination program during the opening of its first inoculation site at the La Salle Green Hills (LSGH).

Over 500 frontline SMC personnel under the A4 category received their first doses of Sinovac vaccine during the launch.

SMC said its vaccination program would be in full swing once the shipments of AstraZeneca and Moderna jabs arrive next month.

“We thank the De La Salle brothers for partnering with us in vaccinating more Filipinos, particularly Metro Manila-based workers and their families. We also thank the local government of Mandaluyong and the National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19 for making this project possible. We are vaccinating for free over 70,000 workers. We are also looking to make the vaccines available to more Filipinos, by extending access to those in our workforce’s own networks,” SMC president Ramon Ang said.

“This way, we can help achieve herd immunity, ensure that more lives are safe and get our economy back on track soon,” Ang added.

The LSGH vaccination site can accommodate up to 1,000 people per day once fully operational by August.

Ang was joined during the launch by NTF chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr., Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, Mandaluyong Mayor Menchie Abalos, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Benhur Abalos Jr. and LSGH president Edmundo Fernandez.

“We are happy that President Duterte has approved the start of vaccination for essential workers as they are key to get the economy back on track,”Ang said.

SMC intends to hire 300 nurses and doctors to support its vaccination program and help local government units in the vaccine rollout.

To date, SMC has hired and deployed 100 medical frontliners to vaccination sites in Mandaluyong, Manila, Quezon City and Malabon.

Since March last year, SMC’s total pandemic response efforts have reached over P14 billion.