Labella names Rama as Cebu City vaccine czar

Cebu City Vice Mayor Mike Rama has been tasked by Mayor Edgardo Labella to oversee the city’s vaccination program, an assignment Rama reportedly accepted despite their recent spat. CDN Digital photo | Delta Letigio

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella has named Vice Mayor Michael Rama as the city’s vaccine czar.

This amid the recent exchange of heated statements between the two officials over the weekend.

“We are good in terms,” assured the mayor.

Labella said he talked to Rama on Monday, February 8, 2021, to discuss the vaccination plan an indication that their relationship is improving.

“I told him that I will issue an executive order and I will appoint him the vaccine czar to oversee the vaccination in the city and coordinate with the vaccine board,” said Labella in a phone conference on January 9, 2021.

The mayor said he and Rama have remained friends and allies amid separate views on certain times.

He expressed his trust that Rama will be able to coordinate all agencies well for a smooth implementation of the vaccination program.

The City Council will also play an important role in the vaccination program through its own vaccine council.

The city government is preparing to be part of the vaccine allocation from the national government this February 16, 2021.

Labella said that even when the vaccines begin rolling out and the primary beneficiaries will be inoculated, the public must continue to wear their masks, face shields, and maintain social distancing.

“The vaccine is not a substitute to the minimum health protocols,” cautioned the mayor.

Until now, the city government does not have the exact number of vaccines they will be given from the national government, but the frontliners at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) has been promised over 2,000 doses.

Labella has also asked for doses for the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) workers.  /rcg