The Maasin City government in Southern Leyte has requested the National Inter-Agency Task Force against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) and the Department of Health for more assistance in battling the pandemic. In a statement on Friday, Mayor Nacional Mercado said he sent a letter last week to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, and National Task Force against Covid-19 Chief Implementer and Vaccine Czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. asking for more vaccines, medical supplies, and equipment. “We humbly requested to be prioritized in the giving of vaccines doses to serve the demand of our beloved constituents who are in dire need

Members of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) fondly recalled the affable pilot who flew in medical supplies from Changsha Airport in Hunan, China last year for the country’s Covid-19 efforts. Maj. Michael Vincent Benolerao was one of 49 fatalities of the C-130 crash in Patikul, Sulu on Sunday. The 38-year-old Iligan City native also accompanied PRC volunteers in the April 28, 2020 C-130 flight that flew home laboratory machines, swabs, reagents, and consumables for the PRC molecular laboratory. “We mourn our fallen hero,” said Senator Richard Gordon, chairman and chief executive officer of PRC. “When we needed his service, he

This province’s capital is the first to roll out the Gamaleya Sputnik V coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccine in Antique. Mayor Elmer Untaran said in an interview Friday that their Municipal Health Office (MHO) started the rollout on July 8, 2021 at the Robinson’s Mall. “There were 200 people who were inoculated with the Gamaleya on July 8,” he said. He added that he still has to receive a report from municipal health officer Melba Billones on the number of recipients this Friday. As vaccine supplies are coming in, the mayor said residents are already responsive to the vaccination program.