Two Cebu City senior citizens wait for their turn to be vaccinated in this April 22, 2021 photo in a vaccination site in Cebu City. | CDN Digital file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Five of Cebu City’s six vaccination centers have been temporarily deactivated once again as COVID-19 vaccine supplies here are running out.
City Health Officer, Dr. Jeffrey Ibones, confirmed that they only opened one vaccination site, the J. Alcantara Street campus of the University of Cebu (UC -Alcantara), on Thursday, July 15.
Ibones said the city recently received 2,500 vials of Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccines, which is equivalent to 5,000 doses, from the national government.
“Last Wednesday evening, we received 2,500 vials of Sputnik V. We initially thought these would be good for 2,500 people but one vial is good for two doses. So, 2,500 times two, that’s 5,000,” Ibones told reporters in an interview in Cebuano.
But as of July 15, these vaccines are the only remaining supply for Cebu City, and would likely last until Friday, July 16.
As a result, the city health officer reiterated their calls for the national government to provide more COVID-19 vaccines to Cebu City.
“Our call right now is that Cebu City should be given more vaccines. We are continually asking the Department of Health (DOH) to provide us more vaccines. Because from what we observe, we have no problems in terms of convincing our vaccinees. It’s the supply,” said Ibones.
“But we understand because all the supply of vaccines came from the national. We’re hopeful in the coming days we will be allocated with more vaccines since we learned about the arrival of additional supplies, and so that we can inoculate more Cebuanos,” he added.
Cebu City, which has a population of over 950,000, is aiming to achieve herd immunity before 2021 ends.
As of July 14, data from the City Health Department (CHD) showed that they have already administered 99,143 doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
Of these, 36,464 happened to be second doses which meant that 36,464 individuals in the city have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Ibones said they could reach their target if Cebu City would have a steady and ample supply of COVID-19 vaccines.
“I think we can do it. If we can open at least 15 vaccination sites, we can administer at least 100,000 doses per day,” he explained.
Cebu City is among the priority areas for the national government’s COVID-19 vaccination drive outside Metro Manila.
Aside from UC- Alcantara, the other vaccination sites in the city are Ayala Center Cebu, SM Seaside City Cebu, Robinsons Galleria, UC – Banilad Campus, and the NOAH Complex in the South Road Properties (SRP).
RELATED STORIES
Lapu running short of vaccines again
Officials upbeat on inoculating more seniors as J&J vax to arrive in Cebu soon
/dbs