Bacolod City is buying 650,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines to start off its COVID-19 vaccination program, while the local governments of Negros Occidental will consolidate their purchases.
The 650,000 doses will ensure the protection of 325,000 Bacolod residents, Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia said today, January 13. Bacolod City has a population of 583,045.
“This is a giant leap towards realizing our vaccination goals,” he said.
Leonardia said his having signed a contract with AstraZenca, a British firm, means that a very substantial number of Bacolod’s population can be vaccinated as soon as the vaccines arrive in the Philippines.
The mayor said the city government is also negotiating for the purchase of more vaccines from other firms.
Bacolod City is among the top five cities nationwide along with Davao, Quezon, Makati, and Manila in terms of vaccine availment, Leonardia pointed out.
The Negros Occidental mayors, in a Zoom meeting with Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson today, January 13, agreed to leave it to the governor to negotiate for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines for their localities.
After the initial contract of the Negros Occidental provincial government with AstraZeneca for the advance purchase of 100,000 doses of vaccines for 50,000 people, he will ask if they can enter into another contract to include the needs of the local government units, especially the cities, Lacson said.
The AstraZeneca vaccines are expected to arrive in the Philippines in the second or third quarter of this year, he said.
Lacson said in a meeting this afternoon of the League of Governors of the Philippines with Secretary Carlito Galvez, the country’s COVID-19 vaccine czar, they were told that the national government will provide free vaccines for up to 70 percent of the country’s population.
The national government is also encouraging us to consolidate the LGUs purchases through the provincial government, he said.
The Negros Occidental provincial government only purchased 100,000 doses of the vaccines, which will be more than enough to cover its health workers and frontliners, Lacson said.
Lacson said he did not purchase a large amount because he was not sure how many vaccines the national government would allocate for free.
“It would be imprudent to contract something big and later on get free vaccines from the national government,” he said.
Lacson said while the city governments of Negros Occidental are willing to set aside funds for the purchase of vaccines, the municipalities are really dependent on the national and provincial governments for help.
The League of Municipalities of the Philippines will also have a meeting with Galvez and he recommended to LMP Negros president Enrique Miravalles to strongly suggest that the national government take care of the bulk of the vaccines needed by municipalities, he said.
After all the national government has P75 billion for the COVID-19 battle, Lacson said.
There is no way fourth and fifth class municipalities can afford to buy their own vaccines, he pointed out.
Silay Mayor Mark Golez said they will wait for the results of the governor’s negotiations with the vaccine suppliers so they can allocate funds for their purchases.
Talisay Mayor Neil Lizares said to reach the herd immunity they need to vaccinate 70 percent of 60 percent of their population.
Talisay City needs to vaccinate 42,000 adults that will cost about P21 million, Lizares said.
They will allocate about P10 million for the vaccines considering that the national and provincial governments and private companies will also provide vaccines, he added.
Mayor Melecio Yap said Escalante City is prepared to allocate funds for the purchase of the COVID-19 vaccines, while Mayor Francis Palanca said he will meet with the Victorias Sangguniang Panlungsod to decide how much they will spend.
La Carlota City will buy vaccines for the sectors not covered by the free vaccines from the national and provincial governments, Mayor Rex Jalando-on said.
Bago Mayor Nicholas Yulo said they were waiting for the governor’s meeting with Galvez and they will decide on their first tranche of priority persons for vaccination.
“We will work as a province and not per LGU,” Yulo said.
Mayor Alfredo Marañon III said Sagay City was prepared to spend P40 million for the vaccines, while Mayor Salvador Escalante said.
Cadiz City would allocate an initial P30 million and more as needed.*