Through the “Empresas por la vacunación” (Companies for vaccination) initiative, 2.5 million vaccines from the Sinovac laboratory were purchased through the National Business Association of Colombia, Andi.
Telefónica was the first company to start the process.
Rappi also joined Andi initiative. It said the vaccination process will be carried out under the guidelines given by Colombia’s government. “We are participating in a mechanism that seeks to add more people and strengthen the National Vaccination System together with the strength and capacity of each of the companies. Initially, we are distributing 2,000 vaccines”, it told LABS.
Despite the controversial story about vaccination priorities for the best couriers – the so-called Rappitenderos – Rappi stated that there are no such thing as better couriers based on the number of orders.
It said “the model is made so that people with different interests can connect according to their availability, in the circumstances of mode, time, and place that they determine. For this reason, from the beginning, in the announcement, it was specified that priority will be given to those distributors who are not included in the National Vaccination Plan at the moment, meaning those under 40 years old who do not have associated diseases.”
Rappi said that because of this, vaccination priority will be given to those couriers who have historically been connected to Rappi for the longest time, on the understanding that they are those who are most at risk of COVID-19 infection and who are not yet part of the national vaccination plan.
Rappi said that because of this, vaccination priority will be given to those couriers who have historically been connected to Rappi for the longest time, on the understanding that they are those who are most at risk of COVID-19 infection and who are not yet part of the national vaccination plan.
“Since the beginning of COVID-19, at Rappi, we have taken different measures such as the provision of masks, antibacterial gel, cleaning centers, and other measures that we have taken throughout this pandemic for the benefit of their safety and that of the entire ecosystem. For our employees, since the beginning of the pandemic, we implemented the Work From Anywhere policy to promote staying at home.”
In Bogotá alone, more than 200,000 employees will be vaccinated in what businessmen call a complementary vaccination program. In total, 32 unions and 5,000 companies joined this public-private alliance to purchase 2.5 million vaccines. This means that 1.25 million people will be immunized through the initiative.
After vaccinating their employees, companies are thinking about acquiring new doses to immunize their staff’s families.
Private vaccination initiatives have been the target of controversial debates in Latin America. While in Mexico and Colombia, this is already a possibility, in Brazil, it is still debated when companies could contribute to the national immunization program. For now, by law, any vaccine purchased by Brazilian companies will be required and used by the federal government.
But that could change once the country has immunized at least 50% of the population. Currently, only 16.8% of the Brazilian adult population received the two doses of vaccine against COVID-19.
