Cagayan De Oro will be next destination of Vice President Leni Robredo’s “Vaccine Express,” a drive-through vaccination program in response to the pandemic.
Robredo’s spokesperson Barry Gutierrez said the Office of the Vice President (OVP) is finalizing the rollout of the project and will soon announce the schedule of its launching there.
“Details are being finalized. We'll announce as soon as there's a definite schedule,” Gutierrez, a lawyer, said.
Cagayan de Oro Rep. and House Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez appealed to the OVP to expand the drive-through vaccination program to Visayas and Mindanao, which are now experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases.
His appeal came on the second day of the two-day vaccination drive organized by the OVP in partnership with Manila City government and the private sector on June 23.
The Vaccine Express inoculated more than 4,500 tricycle and pedicab drivers and delivery riders in Manila. They were also given a P500 fuel incentive from the SeaOil Foundation for having COVID-19 jabs.
READ: 4k riders get COVID-19 jabs in Leni-Isko’s vaccine project
In a tweet, Rodriguez said he had a meeting with Robredo via Zoom on Thursday, June 24, to discuss bringing her office’s COVID-19 response program in Cagayan De Oro.
“I met Vice President @lenirobredo and her team last night to discuss the possibility of bringing her Vaccine Express and Bayanihan E-konsulta projects in Cagayan de Oro City. Daghang salamat VP! Big help for my people in CDO,” his post said.
The vice president noted the public hesitancy to get COVID-jabs is not the bigger problem, but rather the vaccine supply in the country.
“Nag-usapan namin, kayang-kayang gawin doon, pero ang problema supply e. Walang supply ng bakuna—mayroon namang supply, pero hindi enough (We talked about it and it’s really doable there, but the problem is the supply. There is no supply of vaccines—there is supply, but it is not enough),” she said on her weekly radio show.
Local officials have called on the government to distribute more equally the available vaccine supply in the country, especially to areas experiencing a surge in cases.