Cebu City ‘waits Galvez’s go-signal’ before vaccine purchase
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Several highly urbanized cities in the country have already entered into formal agreements with international pharmaceutical firms to purchase coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines.
But for Cebu City, they will have to wait for clearance from the national government.
“We are ready. I’m just waiting for the go signal from Secretary Galvez,” Mayor Edgardo Labella told reporters on Monday, January 11, 2021, during a press conference.
Labella was referring to the ‘tripartite agreement’ formulated by vaccine czar and National Anti-Coronavirus Task Force chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr.
Read: ‘Tripartite agreement’ for vaccine deal eyed
The deal seeks local government units (LGUs) and even members of the private sector to coordinate with the national government their plans on purchasing COVID-19 vaccines.
“The tripartite agreement (will) see to it that we will not be purchasing vaccines with substandard quality,” said Labella.
The mayor also mentioned that experts tapped by the city government have chosen Pfizer’s BioNTech and Moderna as their preferred brands.
Read: Medical frontliners to be prioritized for vaccination in Cebu City
On the other hand, the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP), in which Labella sits as chairperson, is expected to conduct a virtual meeting with its members and national executives on Tuesday, January 12 to discuss the procurement of vaccines by LGUs.
Cebu City Government allotted P500 million in its 2021 budget for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines intended for those who are outside the government’s inoculation prioritization program, considering that the city was identified as one of the ‘priority areas’ for the vaccine rollout.
So far, the council said they have approved an initial amount of P400 million and that they will only release the other P100 million, through a supplemental budget, in case the first batch of doses to be procured will be insufficient.
Recently, some LGUs nationwide have announced that they have signed deals with various international pharmaceutical firms for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines.
The latest to join was Iloilo City when its Mayor Jerry Treñas on Sunday, January 10, announced that they will be buying 600,000 doses from British drugmaker AstraZeneca for its 300,000 residents.
/bmjo
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