Recto reminds big business: Covid vaccine not for profit

SThe newly signed Covid-19 Vaccination Program Act brings big business to the bakuna drive—not to profit, but to use their massive wealth in vaccinating as many people as fast as possible.

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto

ENATE President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto reminded big business on Monday that the Congress-approved Covid Vaccine Act signed into law by President Duterte was intended “not for profit” of pharmaceutical companies.

“The newly signed Covid-19 Vaccination Program Act brings big business to the bakuna drive—not to profit, but to use their massive wealth in vaccinating as many people as fast as possible,” Recto stressed.

At the same time, the senator suggested that with many sectors now enlisted in vaccine procurement, Duterte administration officials concerned “should lead from the front and not from the rear.”

In a news statement, the Senate President pro tempore stressed “the government should match frontliners’ heroism with vaccine offensive.”

“It is said to be the first shot in our nation’s counterattack against the virus,” Recto reminded, adding, “That it was given to Dr. Gap Legaspi, ground commander of the biggest Covid-19 hospital, only underscores the moral responsibility of this government to support the continuing heroism of our frontliners with a vaccine offensive.”

Moreover, the senator affirmed the Duterte administration’s duty to broaden the source of the vital vaccine supply, adding: “Hindi lang galing sa isang bansa, pero sa buong mundo. The best vaccines the best human minds had developed.”

Recto, likewise, recalled that the Covid vaccine supply arrived “as we are letting our people go out of their towns freely,” reminding that “our vaccine arsenal should then grow as fast as we are allowing people to move around unrestricted. Without vaccines, the virus will be faster and smarter than us.”