SENATOR Juan Miguel Zubiri said the budget for purchase of vaccines for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) is an urgent and top priority for the Senate.

Zubiri said as long as there is no present solution for the Covid-19 pandemic, the country's economy will further slump due to all the restrictions.

The Senate along with the House of Representatives have already allocated P72.5 billion for the purchase of the vaccines. Another standby fund of P10 billion was prepared as part of Bayanihan 2.

Aside from the purchase, the funds also include the storage, transportation, distribution and actual vaccination.

Zubiri said it is the most necessary requirement today to achieve economic stability and normalcy.

"Without the vaccine, kalulu-oy kita tanan," he said.

Zubiri also said private companies have chipped in on the vaccination program, wherein they will purchase 3 million doses of vaccines, of which 1.5 million will be donated to the government, while the other half will be used to vaccinate their respective employees.

At the moment, Zubiri said around 25 million people could be vaccinated by next year, based on the statement given to him by Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., with health workers and other essential frontliners being the priority to get the vaccines, followed by senior citizens.

"Hopefully, we will be able to achieve herd immunity. Butang naton sa mga city centers such as Bacolod City, Cebu City and Metro Manila," he said. "If we vaccinate the population in those cities, slowly, we'll be able to see [Covid-19] vanishing in those areas."

Zubiri appealed to the public to cooperate with the health protocols such as wearing face masks and observing physical distancing.