ILOILO CITY – The city government here is eyeing additional COVID-19 vaccines.
Mayor Jerry Treñas announced Monday that the city government is discussing the acquisition of more COVID vaccines with representatives of three pharmaceutical companies – Johnson & Johnson, Novavax, and Gamaleya Research Institute.
“We need to have enough COVID-19 vaccines to cover everyone,” said Treñas.
Johnson & Johnson and Novavax are American companies that manufacture the Janssen and Covovax vaccines, respectively. Gamaleya, which is under Russia’s Ministry of Health, is the manufacturer of the Sputnik V vaccine.
The Iloilo City government is targeting to vaccinate at least 60 percent of the city’s population or more than 470,000 residents.
These additional COVID-19 vaccine options are on top of the initial order of 600,000 doses of AZD1222 vaccine from British pharmaceutical firm AztraZeneca. The 600,000 doses will be good for 300,000 local residents at two doses each.
Treñas urged local residents to pre-register for the government’s massive COVID-19 vaccination program.