Zamboanga, Oroquieta cities ink vaccine deals with AstraZeneca
ZAMBOANGA CITY—The cities of Zamboanga in Zamboanga el Sur and Oroquieta in Misamis Occidental have secured coronavirus vaccines from the United Kingdom-based pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca.
Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar, of Zamboanga City, and Mayor Lemuel Meyrick Acosta, of Oroquieta City, announced this separately on Sunday.
Salazar said in a statement on Monday (Jan. 11) that she had signed a multilateral agreement with the UK-based drug maker to buy more than 400,000 doses of vaccines for the city’s 250,000 residents.
The mayor said the vaccines would cost P100 million and is part of the immunization program against SARS Cov2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
She said the city could still use another P100M for the purchase of other vaccine brands, saying she still has to meet with other companies, like Johnson & Johnson.
Zamboanga’s vaccination program targets 694,696 people, roughly 70 percent of its 992,423 population projected in 2021.
Sheila Belen Covarrubias, information officer of the Zamboanga City Hall, said the mayor signed with AstraZeneca on Saturday (Jan. 8).
In Oroquieta city, Misamis Occidental, the local government also signed an agreement with British drugmaker AstraZeneca for 120,000 vaccine doses, according to Acosta on Sunday.
Acosta, who posted the announcement on his social media account, said the doses would cover 60,000 residents aged 18 years old and older as the priority in his city.
Oroquieta’s population has been estimated to be 70,757, based on the 2015 census.
Acosta said the local government had allocated an initial P30 million for the vaccines. He did not disclose additional details because of the nondisclosure agreement that he signed with the company.
“I’m not allowed to state the price and other information but it is a multilateral agreements with manufacturers and the national government,” Acosta said.
“The vaccines will be offered free of charge to all qualified residents in the city,” he said.
Oroquieta has 285 COVID-19 cases with 146 recoveries.
The city’s COVID-19 Inter Agency Task Force (IATF) listed five deaths since the start of the pandemic.
On Jan. 4 and 5, Acosta issued executive orders placing 19 areas in 14 villages on a lockdown because of a surge in COVID-19 cases in those. The city had also suspended its Business One Stop Shop business permit application and renewal services. It would resume on Jan. 13 at the Oroquieta Town Center Community Mall.
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