As soon as the COVID-19 vaccines arrive, local government units must be ready to hit the ground running, Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia, president of the League of Cities of the Philippines, said tonight, January 12.
Leonardia and members of the LCP held a meeting with Secretary Carlito Galvez, the country’s COVID-19 czar, and Director General Rolando Enrique Domingo of the Food and Drug Administration this afternoon.
They discussed the procedures for the procurement and administration of the COVID-19 vaccines, he said.
There is a need to begin training personnel on the handling and administration of the vaccines so that when they arrive the local government personnel will be ready, he said.
The LCP this afternoon passed a resolution asking the Department of Health (DOH) to start training personnel who will handle and administer the vaccines at the local level.
“All of us on the ground should be ready so that when the vaccines come, we can hit the ground running,” Leonardia said.
The FDA assured us that they are working on the approval of certain vaccines that should not take long since they have already been tested in other countries, Leonardia said.
The city mayors agreed to work as a team with the national government in the implementation of the plan to vaccinate as many people as they can, he said.
All purchases of the vaccines will have to be done by the national government for uniform rates, that will then be cascaded down to the local governments, he said.
The actual vaccination will then be implemented by personnel of the local government units (LGUs), Leonardia added.
He said while the local governments will be guided by the Department of Health, the final prioritization of those who will be vaccinated must come from the LGUs.
Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas, who heads the LCP committee on the availment of vaccines, said aside from those to be purchased by some LGUs, they were assured that the national government will also provide additional vaccines to local governments for free.
He said the COVID-19 vaccines can only be administered on persons 18 years old above.
There will be a mass formal signing of advance purchase agreements between LGUs and AstraZeneca on Thursday, he said.
Treñas said his committee will also meet with representatives of Moderna and Pfizer to discuss the availability of their vaccines tomorrow, January 13, and with other firms later.*