The Parañaque City government signed Monday an agreement with the British-Swedish pharmaceutical drug maker AstraZeneca for the advance purchase of 200,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine.
The vaccine reportedly costs $5 per dose or a total of $1 million. The city government is allocating P250 million for its vaccination program.
“This is a very significant development in our fight against COVID-19. Hopefully, we shall soon see the end of this deadly pandemic and allow our people go back to our normal lives,” Mayor Edwin Olivarez said.
Aside from AstraZeneca, they are also considering other vaccines from Janssen, Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna.
“Once these vaccines are delivered, we shall immediately roll out a vaccination program that will cover the most vulnerable population, including our frontline workers and senior citizens,” Olivarez said.
City Health Officer Dra. Olga Virtusio said the city aims to inoculate up to 119,200 residents during Phase I of their vaccination program that will cover frontline workers, uniformed personnel, persons with disabilities, senior citizens and indigents.
The ultimate goal is to reach a 90% vaccination coverage to attain a 70% herd immunity of the critical population, Virtusio added.