There are 23,800 more Sinovac vaccines arriving in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City Tuesday, June 8, to help curb the rise in COVID-19 cases.
Negros Occidental will receive 16,800 Sinovac vaccines, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said.
Bacolod City that received 10,000 vaccines on Saturday will get 7,000 more on Tuesday, Mayor Evelio Leonardia said.
Diaz said an order will be issued for local government units (LGUs) in Negros Occidental that have failed to use vaccines earlier allocated to them to return them to the Capitol.
“We will transfer the vaccines to LGUs where the vaccines are welcome,” he said.
The LGUs that have not consumed their vaccines will not be given new supply, Diaz added.
The Department of Health is requiring the province to follow a schedule for consumption of the vaccines and there are a lot of people in need of them, he said.
The vaccines will prevent one hit by the virus from dying, he said.
Vaccines sitting in a freezer deprive others of a chance to be protected, every second counts, he said.
Dr. Chris Sorongon, Bacolod Emergency Operations Center deputy for medical data and analysis, said with the arrival of the new vaccines the city stepped up its mass vaccination at the SMX Convention Center and Ayala Malls Capitol Central on Monday.
In the coming days more vaccines will also be distributed to hospitals and to barangay vaccination centers, he said.
The vaccination drive in Bacolod will continue with no let up until the supply is consumed, he added.
This is part of our mitigating measures against the surge in COVID-19 cases in Bacolod City, he said.
Sorongon reminded Bacolod residents to register online or in their barangays so they can be vaccinated.*