Caloocan City gov’t assures free COVID-19 vaccine for residents

Caloocan City Mayor Oca Malapitan meets various local officials on Monday, January 4, 2020, to discuss plans to vaccinate over 1.7 million city residents this year. (Photo from Mayor Oca Malapitan’s official Facebook page)

MANILA, Philippines — Caloocan City Mayor Oca Malapitan on Monday assured residents of free COVID-19 vaccines this year.

On his official Facebook page, Malapitan said the local government has set aside P125 million for the inoculation of its constituents.

“Ito ay upang matiyak natin na kung kulangin ang ilalaan ng national government ay may nakahanda tayong pambili, upang matiyak na bawat mamamayan ng Caloocan ay mababakunahan nang sa gayon ay matiyak ang kaligtasan ng lahat,” he said.

(This is to make sure that we have funds prepared if ever the budget given by the national government is insufficient, to make sure that every Caloocan resident will be vaccinated to ensure safety for all.)

The Caloocan City chief executive added that while the local government has already prepared an initial budget for its COVID-19 vaccination program, they also eye the allocation of an additional P1 billion for the initiative which they intend to obtain through a loan.

Malapitan also assured that he will not buy vaccines that have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and will wait for further guidelines from the national government.

“Matagal na tayong nakipag-ugnayan sa pamamagitan ng pagsulat sa pharmaceutical companies para masiguro na makakakuha tayo ng bakuna tulad ng Pfizer at AstraZeneca,” he further noted.

(We have long been coordinating by writing to pharmaceutical companies to make sure that we will get vaccines such as Pfizer and AstraZeneca.)

In November last year, the local government bared its plan to realign some of the city’s 2021 budget to support its drive to inoculate its more than 1.7 million residents.

KGA

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