DAGUPAN CITY - The city government here has announced that it will acquire an initial allocation of 40,000 doses of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine from the British pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca once the Food and Drug Administration approves its use in the Philippines.
This was the content of the tripartite agreement signed on Friday, January 8, by Mayor Brian Lim, along with an AstraZeneca representative and national government representatives vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.
Lim also said that he wrote a letter to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases that the city has already allocated an initial P10 million to purchase the vaccine.
He said once the vaccines arrive, high-risk individuals in the city, such as frontliners, will be first priority for innoculation.
Vulnerable sectors, such as senior citizens, will follow.
The mayor said, as much as possible, he wanted all Dagupenos to be administered with the COVID-19 vaccine for free.
Lim also ordered the City Health Office to start organizing vaccination teams and train them.