Labella seeks update on vaccine allocation

CEBU City wants its “fair share” of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccine from the national government.

This, as Mayor Edgardo Labella once again requested vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. for a fresh shipment so the City can resume inoculating senior citizens, which was stopped on Friday, April 23, 2021, after it ran out of vaccines.

Based on reports, the national government recently received 500,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccine and 150,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine.

“May we respectfully request that Cebu City will be given a fair share of said vaccines as our senior citizens are eagerly waiting to be vaccinated,” Labella said.

More than 28,000 senior citizens registered online for the City’s vaccination program, but fewer than 5,000 have received the first dose of the two-dose vaccine.

This was the second time this week that Labella asked Galvez for an update on the City’s vaccine allocation.

Labella earlier said he had asked Galvez to allow the City to purchase vaccines using its own budget, but the latter assured him the national government would continue to provide free vaccines to Cebu

City and other local government units around the country.

On Thursday, April 29, the Department of Health (DOH) 7 reported that 1,218 pre-listed senior citizens employed in the tri-cities of Cebu, Mandaue, and Lapu-Lapu had been injected with the first dose under the Project Balik Buhay (PBB) Vaccination initiative.

Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, DOH 7 spokesperson, said another 9,176 senior citizens in Central Visayas received the first dose of the vaccine.

The DOH 7 received a total of 178,560 doses of vaccine and is waiting for the next shipment.

Since April 14, the DOH 7 has not received additional vaccines aside from the 30,000 AstraZeneca and 148,560 Sinovac vaccines, which have already been distributed to different vaccination sites in the region, she said.

As of March 31, the total eligible population of residents under Priority Code A1 (health care workers) in the region is 131,781.

Of this number, 87,958 have already received the first dose and 32,083 have received the second dose.

Vaccination of residents under Priority Code A3 (persons with comorbidities) has also commenced under the PBB Vaccination initiative with a total of 1,512 individuals having received the first dose. (JJL, WBS)