SMC to spend close to P1B to inoculate all 70,000 employees

MANILA, Philippines — To protect all its employees from getting infected with Covid-19, San Miguel Corporation (SMC) on Tuesday announced that it will be spending close to P1 billion for vaccines to inoculate all of its 70,000 employees and extended workforce for free.

In a statement, the country’s largest food and beverage conglomerate, interest said that it has secured Covid-19 vaccines from various sources, and is currently “laying the groundwork” for its vaccine strategy through its “Ligtas Lahat” task force in partnership with relevant government agencies.

Without specifying which vaccine the company has procured, SMC president Ramon Ang said that the vaccines to be used have complied with rigorous safety protocols, and are authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Currently, the FDA has granted emergency use authorization to vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, and Sinovac.

Ang added that the vaccines will be administered to employees on a voluntary basis, but hopes that all employees will sign up to get inoculated.

“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.

Aside from SMC’s interest in food and beverage manufacture, it also diverse interest in the infrastructure, power and real estate sector.

EDV