BACOLOD CITY –– The local government of this city is preparing a multi-million peso fund for the purchase of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines in 2021.
Mayor Evelio Leonardia said he had been meeting with his Finance Committee to determine the amount to be allocated for the vaccines.
“We are very confident we have the funds. We will see to it that any and all resources that we have, we can realign, we can augment, including our savings, for the purchase of the vaccines,” he said.
Leonardia said providing COVID-19 vaccines for the people of Bacolod is his top priority in 2021.
Leonardia, president of the League of Cities of the Philippines, has created a committee headed by Iloilo Mayor Jerry Treñas to ensure access to the COVID-19 vaccines for the 145 cities of the country.
The committee is set to meet with Secretary Carlito Galvez, the country’s vaccine czar, and the representatives of pharmaceutical companies in early January.
”We need to strategize our efforts to ensure that our constituents have early access to quality and affordable vaccines, but we need to gather as much information as possible to guide our decisions,” Leonardia said.
“This is, after all, a top priority for all of us,” he said.