SOLICITING SUPPORT. Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P.Treñas (left) meets with Jaro Archbishop Jose Romeo Lazo on Friday (Feb. 19, 2021) to ask the archdiocese’s support for the vaccination campaign of the local government. The city government will make an advance payment for 600,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines next week and expects these to become available in July. (Photo by Arnold Almacen/CMO)
ILOILO CITY – The city government is expected to make an advance payment for the purchase of 600,000 doses of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines by next week.
On the city government’s official Facebook page, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas announced on Friday evening that he has signed the voucher for the advance payment.
“That’s over PHP28 million if I can recall correctly,” Treñas said in a text message to the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Saturday. “Hopefully, with the advance payment by next week, the vaccines will be available to Ilonggos by July of this year.”
He added that the 600,000 doses could cover about 60 percent of the city population who are eligible to be vaccinated.
Memorandum Order 51, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on February 18, allows local government units to make advance payments exceeding 15 percent of the total contract amount for the procurement of the vaccines.
Last January 10, the city government signed a multilateral agreement for the advance purchase of AstraZeneca AZD 1222 vaccines amounting to USD3 million. The city government has allotted PHP200 million for the purchase.
In the text message, Treñas said the city government would also seek additional reservations from AstraZeneca, Novavax, and Janssen for 100,000 persons.
The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) announced on Friday that Janssen Pharmaceuticals has begun Phase 3 of its clinical trials in the Philippines.
Meanwhile, in preparation for the inoculation, the city government conducted a simulation exercise (simex) on January 28 while another exercise is slated on March 3.
The simex includes the transport of vaccines from the storage facility up to the conduct of vaccination.
The city will also go massive in its information dissemination to raise public awareness of the benefits of the Covid-19 vaccines.
“We are readying vaccines that are safe, free, and effective. The only way to get protected is through vaccines and stop the spread of the virus through vaccination. We are meeting every sector to address every concern,” Treñas said in a press statement from the Public Information Office.
He also met with Jaro Archbishop Jose Romeo Lazo to seek the support of the church in the local government’s vaccination campaign. (PNA)
