DILG: Local govt’s can buy own vaccines vs COVID

MANILA, Philippines — Local government units will be allowed to procure COVID-19 vaccines for their constituents who are not on the government’s priority list of people who will receive the inoculation, according to Jonathan Malaya, undersecretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Malaya said the national government was committed to procure vaccines for majority of Filipinos, but local governments are not prohibited from doing so as well.

Local governments that had allocated funds in their budgets for vaccines could purchase those already approved by the Food and Drug Administration, Malaya said.

“If they want to include their constituents who are not considered priority, they could buy [vaccines] and vaccinate their constituents, provided that the vaccine they will procure is approved by the Food and Drug Administration,” he said.

Muntinlupa City has prepared an initial budget of P170 million to procure vaccines versus COVID-19.

Mayor Jaime Fresnedi said the city government would allocate funds for the vaccination program to ensure that all Muntinlupa residents would receive the vaccine.

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the mass vaccination drive would initially focus on epicenters of the pandemic, including Metro Manila, Calabarzon and Central Luzon regions, as well as the key cities of Davao, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Baguio, Bacolod, Iloilo, Zamboanga, Tacloban, and General Santos.

After assessing which areas where the vaccine will need to be deployed, eligible populations in these areas will be prioritized for inoculation.

On the priority list are front-line health workers, workers of select government offices, senior citizens, indigents, and uniformed employees.

The government has allocated P72.5 billion for the purchase, storage, shipment, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in the proposed P4.5-trillion budget for 2021.

The Philippine government is requesting a $325-million (about P15.6 billion) loan from the Asian Development Bank to procure the COVID-19 vaccines.

The government aims to vaccinate at least 60 million Filipinos against the severe respiratory disease that has caused a global pandemic and killed 1.75 million people. INQ