COVID-19 vaccination program covers all localities – DILG
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has assured that all localities are included in the national government’s COVID-19 vaccination list, brushing off fears that smaller communities will be left behind in the supply of the vaccines.
DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya stressed that the program would cover all local government units (LGUs) whether or not they have earmarked funds for the procurement of their respective COVID-19 vaccines.
“We are going to get from as many suppliers as we can. And ang condition lang (the only condition), of course, is that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued it an emergency use authorization (EUA),” Malaya said in an interview over GMA News on Monday.
Malaya identified Quezon City as the first to negotiate for its own supply of COVID-19 vaccines.
He noted that many LGUs have been coordinating with the National Task Force (NTF) with Quezon City being the first one to do so.
“Quezon City was like the benchmark. All of the negotiations were done with the National Task Force together with the pharmaceutical company and the LGU so naayos kaagad (everything was in order),” he added.
The GMA News report noted that Quezon City has secured 1.1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine and has allotted P1 billion, not just for the vaccines but also for personal protective equipment, syringes and other items that will be needed for the vaccination.
Malaya stressed that the efforts of the LGUs (in securing the COVID-19 vaccines) “are simply augmentation to what the national government is going to do.”
“Smaller LGUs, they have nothing to fear because whether or not may pondo sila, kasama sila sa programa ng national government,” Malaya assured.