Megaworld Corporation, the country's pioneer developer of integrated urban townships, is opening 11 vaccination centers in the National Capital Region (NCR) and in the province of Laguna as it looks to give the government's ongoing vaccination program a shot in the arm.

The property giant is setting up mass inoculation sites in its townships and lifestyle malls, with pilot vaccination activities commencing at Eastwood Mall in Eastwood City in Quezon City on Friday, May 14.

Initial vaccine rollouts will also take place in the following weeks at Lucky Chinatown in Manila, and Uptown Bonifacio and McKinley Hill both in Taguig City.

Megaworld is also opening vaccination centers within the second quarter of the year at Arcovia City in Pasig City, Paseo Center and San Lorenzo Place Mall in Makati City, Newport Mall in Pasay City, Village Square Alabang and Alabang West Parade in Las Piñas City, and Southwoods Mall in Binan, Laguna.

Close to 7,000 people belonging to the A1 - A4 priority groups, which include health workers, senior citizens, persons with comorbidities and economic frontliners, are expected to be served everyday in the new vaccination centers for their first and second doses.

“We are ready to deploy and maximize our resources to help our LGUs in their vaccination drive, the success of which is very crucial in our nation’s economic recovery. By providing a safer environment and a more convenient venue for residents and communities for their vaccination, we also hope to encourage more people to get vaccinated in support of the government’s goal of achieving herd immunity by the end of 2021,” says Graham Coates Head of Megaworld Lifestyle Malls.

Since the start of the global health crisis, Megaworld has been at the forefront of the country’s pandemic response. The company has waived a total of P2.4 billion pesos in rental fees for its retail partners and has donated P60 million pesos to the Philippine Red Cross for the establishment of four COVID-19 test laboratories. It has also supported various feeding programs, including a P100 million donation to Project Ugnayan for the provision of food vouchers to more than 1 million families in urban poor areas, and has distributed over P3 million worth of food packs to frontliners.

Megaworld has also donated personal protective equipment and sanitation kits to various groups and organizations and offered free transportation to medical frontliners through its Citylink buses.