CEBU CITY – The city’s vaccination drive had to be stopped again after it run out of COVID-19 vaccine supply.
The officer-in-charge of the Cebu City Health Department feared that the constant suspension of vaccinations may affect the public’s interest to get vaccinated.
“We get to vaccinate 4,000 individuals if we open our five vaccination sites. That’s a big achievement. It shows that the people are willing to be vaccinated. But it’s ironic that we are encouraging them to take the vaccine but we don’t actually have available vaccines,” said Dr. Jeffrey Ibones.
The city’s five vaccination sites were closed on Monday after the 5,000 Sinovac doses that the city received last Wednesday had been consumed.
“We are waiting for the arrival of more vaccines from Manila. We heard that there are one million of Sinovac doses that are set to arrive. Hopefully, we can be given with a bigger allocation so that we won’t keep on closing our vaccination sites,” added Ibones.
According to the City Health Department, some 270,000 individuals have registered online for vaccination. Of the total registrants, 60,000 belonged to the A4 priority subgroup.
The city has already administered more than 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine.
“We are asking for understanding from the public for the delays of the vaccinations because we really lack supply. We are hoping it will not affect their interest to get the vaccine,” Ibones said.