(FILE) Makati Mayor Abby Binay. PHOTO from Abby Binay Facebook
MANILA, Philippines — The Makati City government is looking at procuring vaccines from pharmaceutical firms Pfizer, Janssen, or AstraZeneca for its local inoculation program against COVID-19.
Mayor Abby Binay said Tuesday that the choices of the vaccines were considered upon consultation with residents of the city.
“Lahat naman ay may consensus na ang gusto po nilang bakuna ay either Pfizer, Janssen o kaya ay AstraZeneca. ‘Yun ang tatlong pinagpipilian natin o kung lahat ay makakuha kami ng supply dahil baka hindi kaya i-supply ng isang pharmaceutical company,” Binay said over ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo.
(We had a consensus and what they want is either Pfizer, Janssen or AstraZeneca. These are the three firms we are choosing from, or perhaps we can buy from all three because just one pharmaceutical firm may not be able to supply the quantity we need.)
But if the national government procures vaccines from China first and distributes it to the local government unit of Makati, Binay said the LGU will then ask from its residents who want to receive the vaccines from China.
“Kung Chinese vaccine ‘yan, bibigyan ang lungsod at ang lungsod ay maghahanap kung sino ang gusto magpaturok ng Chinese vaccines. Tapos kami naman ay mag-aantay sa magiging further na vaccine na gusto namin, na sabay doon sa national government,” she added.
(If the national government procures vaccines from China, the city will be given these vaccines and we will look for residents who want to be given these shots. Then we will wait for the vaccines we want.)
Binay earlier announced that the Makati City government has set aside P1 billion for its local vaccination program. The amount, according to the mayor, came from savings of the LGU.
She said around 500,000 residents may benefit with such an amount, but more vaccines could be delivered to people if the LGU will be able to procure the vaccines at a cheaper price.
Health workers or frontliners, senior citizens, and those with comorbidities will be prioritized in the program before the general population in the city, according to Binay. Both the rich and the poor will be given the vaccine shots.
Binay said the LGU even has more money for vaccination if the P1 billion would not be enough.
“May pera pa kami, may sobra pa. Kung kailangan mag-allocate ng additional doon sa P1 billion, we can still add more money,” she said.
(We still have more money. If we need to allocate an additional amount aside from the P1 billion, we can still add more money.)
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