Several Eastern Visayas LGUs allocate funds to buy COVID-19 vaccines

TACLOBAN CITY –– Several local governments in Eastern Visayas will not wait for the national government to provide them COVID-19 vaccines.

Mayor Jose Ivan Dayan Agda of Borongan City, Eastern Samar said they have allocated P35 million to purchase COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca.

“We target 73 percent of our population or 56,000 persons 18 years and above. We can increase it once a vaccine is available for 17 years old and below. It’s free and voluntary,” Agda said.

Eastern Samar Gov. Ben Evardone earlier said the provincial government is preparing around P500 million to buy vaccines and other related items to protect its people from COVID-19.

In Northern Samar, the provincial government has set aside P10 million for the same purpose and targeted around 80 percent of its population to achieve “herd immunity,” Rei Josiah Echano, head of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office, said.

“During our investment fund planning last year, we made sure that there is a provision for the purchase of COVID-19 because we anticipated that the national government can only accommodate a fraction of our population,” Echano added.

In Biliran province, Gov. Rogelio Espina said they would allocate P100 million for procurement of the vaccines.

“The national government, I think, may not be able to provide the funds needed to cover the corresponding number of vaccines for our constituents. To prepare for this scenario, we have allotted a P100-million fund for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines through a loan from the Land Bank,” he said.

He added they target 20,000 people across the province to get vaccinated.

On Wednesday, the regional office of the Department of Health reported 129 new COVID-19 cases bringing the total number to 11,631.