GenSan eyes Covid-19 vaccine deal with AstraZeneca

GENERAL SANTOS CITY – The city government is working on signing a multilateral agreement with British-Swedish pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca and the Department of Health for the purchase of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines.

Mayor Ronnel Rivera said Friday they decided to consider the offer of AstraZeneca and are now in advanced negotiations for the finalization of a supply deal for its vaccine within this month.

He said they will file a request to the Sangguniang Panlungsod (City Council) for the grant of authority to sign the agreement upon the resumption of its regular session on Jan. 19.

“We’re currently pushing for its (AstraZeneca) vaccine and hopefully we can make a deal soon,” he told reporters.

The city government, as endorsed by the City Inter-Agency Task for the Management of Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases, had allotted around PHP200 million for the purchase of the Covid-19 vaccines.

It is targeting to cover at least 85 percent of the city’s over 600,000 population in its planned vaccination program.

Rivera said they settled with AstraZeneca’s vaccine due to its cheaper price, which is offered at around USD10 (around PHP500) for the two doses.

The city also can comply with its storage requirement, which is only set at 2 to 8 degrees Celcius, he said.

He said the vaccines may be stored in ordinary refrigeration units that are readily available in the area.

Based on estimates, the mayor said the city will be getting around 330,000 vaccines in the proposed deal with AstraZeneca.

He said they expect that this will be augmented by the vaccines coming from the national government.

The National Task Force against Covid-19, through Chief Implementer and “vaccine czar” Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., earlier included the city in the pilot areas for the upcoming national rollout of the Covid-19 vaccines.

Rivera said the government’s vaccination program could start by March as relayed by Galvez. (PNA)