Duterte formalizes $1M pledge before COVAX Summit

June 3 ------ President Rodrigo Duterte has formalized the $1-million pledge as contribution to the COVAX initiative, Malacañang announced. The Palace said President Duterte also reiterated his call for universal access to safe and effective vaccines at the GAVI COVAX Advance Market Commitment One World Protected Summit on Wednesday. Duterte said there is a glaring imbalance in vaccine distribution with more than 80% of the global supply going to developed countries.

"The imbalance must be corrected - or there will be no real and inclusive global recovery to speak of," Duterte said in a statement. "It is our moral responsibility to help each other and face this crisis with greater solidarity and urgency. While modest, our contribution demonstrates our firm commitment to this global fight against COVID-19," he added.

Duterte said as both donor and recipient country, the Philippines "counts on the COVAX AMC initiative to bring much-needed vaccines to developing countries." He also expressed gratitude to the GAVI Alliance and encouraged more countries to contribute as well. The event aims to fill the 1.7 billion gap of the COVAX AMC to provide COVID-19 vaccine doses for lower-income economies.

Source: gmanetwork.com