Mayor Evelio Leonardia said he has been assured that Bacolod City will receive a “much bigger allocation” of COVID-19 vaccines from the national government.
“You know, Metro Manila is not the Philippines. Apparently, they listened to us. Secretary [Carlito] Galvez himself is seeing it through that we will get a much bigger allocation. That is what is happening now,” the mayor said in a press release from the Bacolod Public Information Office Sunday, June 12.
Leonardia said he waiting for word from the national government as to how many of the Pfizer vaccines that recently arrived in the country will be allocated for Bacolod.
The Pfizer vaccine is a “different breed” in the sense that it requires its own particular temperature conditions for proper storage, the mayor said.
Earlier, Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje also told Leonardia that Bacolod will be receiving an additional vaccine allocation from the Western Visayas Center for Health Development, the press release said.
The Bacolod City Emergency Operations Center –Task Force (EOC-TF) recorded 42,173 doses of COVID-19 vaccines administered to Bacolodnons from March 5 to June 11.
Of that total, 32,538 were for first doses, while the remaining 9,635 were for second doses, the EOC data showed.
The 21,885 doses were AstraZeneca vaccines while 20,288 shots were of the Sinovac brand, the press release said.
Earlier, Leonardia had requested the Office of Secretary Carlito Galvez for additional COVID-19 vaccines in light of the sustained increase in the number of local cases in Bacolod.
In response, Galvez assured that Bacolod will be given enough doses to inoculate 100 percent of the City’s adult population and such shall be delivered “in accordance with the relevant existing laws, rules, and regulations”, the press release said.