NCR mayors told: More COVID-19 vaccines arriving in mid-July

A tricycle driver receives his first Moderna shot during a vaccination drive held at Camarin D Elementary School in Caloocan City. PHOTO COURTESY OF CALOOCAN PIO

MANILA, Philippines — Additional COVID-19 vaccines are expected to be delivered to Metro Manila local government units (LGU) by the second and third week of July, as some LGUs halt first dose vaccination due to depleting stock, Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez said Wednesday.

Olivarez, also the chairman of the Metro Manila Council, said the Department of Health (DOH) told local officials that additional vaccines will be delivered by the national government in the second and third week of the month.

“Based sa communication with DOH, darating ang mga bakuna natin second and third week ng July, so inaasahan natin na itong mid of July makakapag-umpisa tayo ulit ng pagbabakuna [ng first dose],” he told ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo.

(Based on our communication with the DOH, additional vaccines will arrive by the second and third week of July, so we expect that by mid of July we will resume first dose vaccination.)

Olivarez said the latest supply of vaccines arrived in Parañaque 10 days ago. He added that the LGU’s last first dose vaccination was conducted on Friday and that they are only vaccinating for the second dose for the meantime.

The mayor said they were given a directive by the national government to use their two-week inventory for the second dose only due to limited supply of the anti-coronavirus shots.

Olivarez said Parañaque has already vaccinated around 200,000 residents for the first dose and 65,000 for the second dose. The city is targeting to vaccinate 465,000 individuals or 70 percent of the 675,000 people in its population to achieve herd immunity.

Meanwhile, the local chief executive also noted that the number of COVID-19 cases in the city has been going down. He said they now only have over 200 active cases, with only around 20 additional cases per day, significantly lower than the 100 new daily cases in the city during the surge of infections.

The country is expecting to receive 13.3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in July, according to vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr.

EDV