MANILA - The private sector has vowed to support the national government in the roll-out of its COVID-19 vaccination program, as the country awaits the arrival of the first batch of vaccines from the COVAX facility under the World Health Organization (WHO).

Taskforce T3 (Test, Trace, Treat) said it will strengthen its collaboration with the national government to accelerate the pace of the roll out of the vaccination program.

"The private sector eagerly anticipates the arrival of the first batch of vaccines from the COVAX facility in order for the country to jumpstart its vaccination program. The collective goal for both the private sector and government is to vaccinate as many people as possible at the soonest possible time,” Guillermo Luz, chief resilience officer of Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (a member of T3) said in a statement Thursday.

For the vaccination roll out, Taskforce T3, in partnership with the Department of Health and the National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19, is developing a vaccine education campaign to educate the public about vaccine safety and efficacy.

The group is also providing technical support to the government in the form of cold-chain logistics for the vaccine vials.

The private sector, likewise, have donated vaccine doses to the national government.

“A successful vaccination rollout is crucial to our country’s efforts to manage the COVID-19 pandemic and support our ultimate goal to protect lives and provide livelihood. The private sector is unwavering in its commitment to assist the national government by providing resources and expertise to ensure the success of its vaccination program,” Joey Concepcion, founder of Go Negosyo and Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship said.

The Philippines is expected to get an initial batch of 600,000 COVID-19 vaccine shots from China's Sinovac Biotech on Feb. 23, Malacañang said on Thursday.

Beijing is donating the vaccine batch, and 100,000 of the doses will go to the Philippine military, said Roque.

• Philippines to get COVID-19 shots from China's Sinovac on Feb. 23

The Philippines has recorded 543,282 confirmed COVID-19 cases, as of Thursday, including 31,478 active infections, 11,469 deaths, and 500,335 recoveries.

Its first case, recorded on Jan. 30 last year, involved a Chinese woman who arrived from Wuhan City, China where the disease is believed to have first emerged. Her companion, a 44-year-old Chinese man, is the second case who succumbed to the disease on Feb. 1 last year, marking the first coronavirus-related death outside China and in the Philippines.

• PH reports 1,734 new COVID-19 cases; recoveries breach 500,000