ILOILO CITY — The Iloilo provincial government is allocating at least P95 million to purchase vaccines against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) once it is legally made available in the country.
Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. said the Iloilo provincial government was on the first step of procuring the vaccines in coordination with the national government.
This was after the Iloilo Provincial Board approved Thursday, January 7, the request for Defensor to enter into a multilateral agreement with British pharmaceutical firm AztraZeneca and the national government to procure the COVID-19 vaccines.
While it was unclear when the vaccines will become available, Defensor said the provincial government was preparing this early to be able to implement the vaccination program against COVID-19 once the national government officially rolls it out.
Defensor said the P95 million can fund the initial procurement of 271,000 doses of AztraZeneca AZD1222 vaccines.
According to the governor, the Iloilo provincial government will distribute these to the 42 towns and component city of Passi.
Following the national government’s guidelines, Defensor reiterated that frontline workers, such as health workers, will be prioritized in the vaccination program. Also included in the priority list were senior citizens and those with comorbidities.