City to allot P100M for Covid-19 vaccine

The Iloilo City government assured Ilonggos that it will purchase COVID-19 vaccine once it is available in the markets.

In the regular flag ceremony on Monday, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas announced that the Iloilo City government is currently preparing a P100 million budget for the purchase of Covid-19 vaccine.

As early as now, the mayor said they will prepare a budget for the vaccine in case it will be available by next year.

“Gapreparar ako P100 million. Ang P100 million nga ini ipreparar naton para ibakal sang vaccine. We don’t know whether the vaccine will be coming in early or middle next year but I want to assure you nga in so far as Iloilo City is concerned, kamo ya baklan gid kamo sang city government sang vaccines including the rest of your families,” he said.

The mayor said frontliners in the Iloilo City Hall and barangay officials will be among the priorities for the vaccine.

“Unahon ta gid ang City Hall kag barangay officials, naidentify na naton sila,” he said.

Treñas said the city government must prepare the budget for the vaccine as the national government has yet to confirm if Iloilo City will be included in the purchase of the vaccine.

The mayor added he does not know the scope of the national government’s COVID vaccine procurement, thus the city must set aside funds as early as now.

“Just in case nga kulang ang preparasyon sang national government, ako iya ginapasalig ta kamo nga may ara kita iya para diri sa inyo.”

But if the national government includes Iloilo City in the vaccine program, the P100-million budget will be used for other needs of the city.

Philippines will be a part of the trials of the World Health Organization (WHO) for potential Covid-19 vaccines.

Vaccine developers have also sought to conduct a Phase 3 clinical trial on potential COVID-19 vaccines in the Philippines, based on a published report of CNN Philippines.

Malacañang has announced that the vaccine could be ready by the first or second quarter of next year.

Vaccine czar and National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. said the bulk of vaccines against COVID-19 will be available by end of 2021 to early 2022.

Galvez said the planning and preparation for the implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination can take at least six months, and that supply is a challenge since rich countries have secured access to most vaccines in advance.

“Ang best case po natin, Mayo o Hulyo [2021], ay may available na vaccine na po [tayo] thru COVAX and bilateral arrangements natin,” Galvez said in an online briefing.

“But realistically speaking, baka po end of the year [2021] or 2022 darating ang main bulk ng vaccine…iyan po ang nakikita natin kasi meron po tayong kakulangan sa suppy kasi iyong mayayamang countries, kinuha na po ang majority ng production,” Galvez added.

Only Chinese vaccine Sinovac has been cleared by the country’s vaccine experts’ panel (VEP) under the country’s Department of Science and Technology so far.

Sinovac or any other potential vaccine, for that matter, would also need approval from the Ethics Board and the Food and Drug Administration before it can be cleared for clinical trial or entry to the market if the vaccine is already done with its clinical trial phase. (ERS)