OVER 45,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine from the British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca were delivered to Zamboanga City and officials said some 36,42o additional doses are also expected to arrive soon.
The delivery of the vaccine was part of a $2 million (or roughly P100 million) deal Mayor Beng Climaco signed with AstraZeneca early this year.
The initial P200 million for the purchase of the vaccines are included in the P4.38-billion 2021 Executive Budget of the local government, according to Climaco, who is also a member of the Committee on Vaccine Availment of the League of Cities of the Philippines.
The shipment was the second since July this year after AstraZeneca delivered some 11,800 doses of Covid-19 vaccines purchased by the Climaco administration. The latest delivery of 4,580 vials or 45,800 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines will benefit local residents.
Climaco confirmed the September 24 arrival of the vaccine, saying this will further boost the local government’s mass vaccination program. “This is good news because this (vaccine) delivery will inoculate many people,” she said.
She said the local government’s vaccination program will cover almost 700,000 residents or 70% of the projected 2021 population of 992,423 inhabitants. More than 75,000 residents had been inoculated with Covid-19 vaccines the past months based on the Department of Health’s (DOH) prioritization - A1 (Medical frontliners), A2 (Senior citizens) and A3 (People with comorbidity) and recently the A4 (Frontliner personnel in essential sector).
Zamboanga is one of the first cities that entered into a multilateral agreement for the purchase of vaccines through the League of Cities.
More Vaccines
The national government’s Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) said it will send more Covid-19 vaccines to Zamboanga City in an effort to further augment and support the local government’s response to the pandemic.
Secretary Vince Dizon, the Deputy Chief Implementer of the IATF-MEID policies and his team was in Zamboanga City in May and met behind doors with the members of the Regional IATF-MEID led by the Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the Zamboanga City Task Force on Covid-19 chaired by Climaco.
Dizon assured Climaco of the strong support of the Duterte administration to the local government’s efforts by augmenting the allocation of vaccines to swiftly inoculate at least 700,000 residents and achieve herd immunity. “Only through vaccination, people will be amply protected against coronavirus amidst the surge in infections,” he said.
Thousands of senior citizens and people with comorbidity (those with more than one disease or condition at the same time) have been inoculated against Covid-19 in Zamboanga City as the local government continues its mass vaccination program despite the lack of supply of the medicine needed to prevent the further spread of the virus.
Climaco has repeatedly urged residents - especially the elderly sector and those with comorbidity - to register online. She said residents who are 18-years old and above are also encouraged to register online - www.zambocovax.com or by visiting the nearest health center.
Dizon’s team also commended Climaco and the local Covid-19 task force, for a “job well done” in the battle against the deadly respiratory disease. He said Secretary Carlito Galvez, in-charge of the government’s procurement of Covid-19 vaccines, also spoke with Climaco and assured the mayor that the DOH will send more vaccines to Zamboanga City.
“I just want to confirm categorically that Secretary Galvez, our vaccine czar, spoke with Mayor Beng Climaco and committed to increase the number of vaccines to be deployed to Zamboanga City because of the growing cases, and more so because of the importance of Zamboanga to the economy of Region 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula).”
“So committed na po yun, we will be coordinating with Mayor Beng and her team to ensure a steady flow of vaccines. We are also very happy that Mayor Beng and her team demonstrated a very efficient roll out of vaccines in the past couple of weeks despite the low supply that has been allocated. So thank you very much Mayor Beng, very clear po yong commitment ng national government sa Zamboanga City,” Dizon said.
Anti-Climaco Trolls
Dizon’s statement and commendation of Climaco’s Covid-19 response and her sincere effort to control the spread of the virus has left a “sour taste in the mouth” of the mayor’s foes and trolls.
And they even questioned Dizon’s appreciation of the local government’s Covid-19 response efforts and spread fake news and false information on social media attacking Dizon and Climaco alike and undermining not only the local government’s efforts and the IATT-MEID as well.
Jay-R Candido, of the Office of the Civil Defense-Operations Center, said the Regional IATF-MEID headed by DILG Regional Director Paizal Abutazil, approves all recommendations by the Zamboanga Task Force on Covid-19 whether to place the city under stricter community quarantine or extend it.
Candido said the OCD Task Force on Covid-19 headed by Regional Director Manuel Luis Ochotorena implements whatever orders or directives Regional IATF-MEID issues. He said Climaco can issue executive orders to further strengthen the Covid-19 health protocols and it does not need approval by the Regional IATF-MEID. (Zamboanga Post)
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