Negros Occidental-based Victorias Milling Company (VMC), one of the country’s biggest sugar producers, is expected to vaccinate more than 2,000 of its employers, service providers, their family and household members against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) within the week.
Vaccination is ongoing Thursday at the multipurpose gymnasium at the mill site in Victorias City using the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“By the end of this week, over 2,000 members of the VMC community will have been inoculated,” the VMC, headed by its president Minnie Chua, said in a statement.
Those who signed up for vaccination are direct company employees and outsourced workers at the mill site and distillery in adjacent Manapla town, and mechanics were also put in place to allow their family and household members access to Covid-19 vaccine.
The sugar firm’s partners, the Lucio Tan (LT) Group Inc. and Zuellig Pharma, facilitated the procurement of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the VMC said.
Earlier, Chua said few VMC employees had contracted the virus and have fully recovered, while some also lost family members to Covid-19.
“As such, the vaccination program is necessary to protect our employees and their families from getting severely affected when infected by the virus. It will also help in restoring normalcy in our operations and allow us to continue serving our planters,” she added.
Amid the pandemic, the 102-year-old sugar firm reported growth, with the implementation of sustainability programs that increased performance levels in its various business segments.
Source: Philippines News Agency