ILOILO CITY – The national government has responded positively to the appeal of the city government here for more supplies of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines amid its increasing cases.
On Wednesday, the local government received its 50,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines that were committed by vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. last week and which are part of the 150,000 vials of the vaccine brand transported to Western Visayas.
These new arrivals are in addition to the 20,000 doses of Sinovac and 975 vials of Pfizer vaccines delivered on June 22.
“I would like to thank Secretary Galvez for the arrival of 50,000 doses of Sinovac. We planned the whole morning together with the COVID team and the vax center managers how we can better improve the processes followed in the centers,” said Mayor Jerry P. Treñas in his message posted on the official Facebook page of the city government.
Jeck Conlu, a spokesperson for the COVID team, said 50 percent of the new supply will be allotted for the first dose and the remaining half for the second dose.
“They will be administered next week because we are still planning out the rollout,” he said, adding they still have vaccines left intended for the second dose but did not state how many doses.
The inoculation is ongoing for around 2,000 recipients on Wednesday and another 2,000 on Friday.
“We are also expecting 18,000 vials of the AstraZeneca that will arrive between July 12-18,” he said.
With the huge volume of vaccines that will be administered next week, Conlu said that they intend to open four additional vaccination sites to be announced soon in addition to the current four sites.
He said that they are still finalizing the requirements of the vaccination sites.
Given the sufficient supply, he said the people should wait for the vaccination tickets that will be distributed by their barangay officials.
The tickets with their schedule will be presented to the venue.
Data from the Department of Health Western Visayas Center for Health Development (DOH WV CHD) showed that as of June 27, Iloilo City has been allocated 82,8904 of Sinovac, 21,420 of AstraZeneca, and 11,700 of Pfizer vaccines.
The local government has already master listed around 114,640 individuals for Priority Group A as of June 17.
The city government in a press statement said that as of June 29, it has already administered the first dose of Covid-19 jab to 77,076 vaccinees and 12,027 for the second dose since the rollout in March.
As of the same date, Iloilo has 2,395 active Covid-19 cases as per regional bulletin of the DOH WV CHD with 8,110 recoveries, and 277 deaths
Source: Philippines News Agency
