In Lucena, seniors await vaccine rollout

LUCENA CITY—With the alarming rise of coronavirus cases in Quezon province, some officials and worried senior citizens in this city urged local authorities to speed up the vaccination program so they can have their own defense against the virus.

Councilor Sunshine Abcede-Llaga, chair of Lucena City Council’s committee on social welfare, noted in a privilege speech during the council’s session on Monday that Mayor Roderick Alcala had yet to report on the local vaccination program.

“We are patiently waiting for a just, equitable and science-based vaccination rollout. Hindi pwedeng ang ‘sakalam’ lang ang tuturukan (It shouldn’t just be the influential who can get vaccinated),” Abcede said.

“Sakalam”—the inverse word for “malakas” (powerful), was an apparent dig on Alcala who had his first jab on March 23.

Alcala earlier clarified the vaccines he and several village officials received were “leftovers” from the 500 doses donated by the national government for local front-line health and village workers.But Abcede claimed Alcala had not been responding to their request for updates on the city’s vaccination program, particularly on senior citizens.

A 67-year-old retired teacher and his wife, 64, said they were also waiting when to be called for vaccination as they had long submitted their vaccination forms to their barangay and had also registered online.

“But how long can we wait? Most cities across the country have already started giving vaccines to their senior citizens. They are lucky,” the retired teacher, who requested not to be named, lamented.

Reached for comment, Alcala said the city had allotted P350 million to buy the vaccines but there was nothing available.

“We have the money. It’s ready. But the problem is, there are no available vaccines to buy even if we already have a tripartite agreement with the national government,” Alcala said in an interview on Sunday.

—DELFIN T. MALLARI INQ