Presentation of vaccine plan in Cebu City Council postponed

Cebu City Council members huddle during a recess in a special session. | Delta Dyrecka Letigio

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The presentation of the vaccine plan of Cebu City to its Council has been moved to a later date.

Vice Mayor Michael Rama announced in a phone interview with reporters that the special session scheduled today, January 29, 2021, has been postponed to the next regular session.

“We cannot proceed with the special session this afternoon because on the side of the EOC (Emergency Operations Center), there are too many things to attend to for a while and they are not ready with the vaccination program,” said Rama.

The City Council wants the complete plan presented to the people so that the public will understand the rationale of the vaccination plan.

However, the vice mayor said there is no purpose in continuing with the presentation when many of the details are not yet prepared.

The council will reschedule the presentation in a regular session in the following weeks.

Aside from the vaccination plan, the current coronavirus situation was supposed to be presented today as well, but will also be moved to a later date.

Mayor Edgardo Labella already said in previous statements that the vaccination plan is nearing completion, as this is one of the requirements for the city to get the vaccine allocations from the national government.

The Vaccine Advisory Board (VAB) has met with representatives of AstraZeneca and Moderna to discuss possible procurement.

Zuellig Pharma, a local storing facility for Pfizer, has also toured the VAB in their freezer units for the possible use of the facility if the city chooses the Pfizer vaccine.

The city government is still mulling on whether it will buy a freezer storage facility for the vaccine or rent one instead. /rcg