The government is prepared to allocate additional 2 million doses of coronavirus vaccines for Metro Manila to help boost the residents' protection against the transmissible disease.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. could commit such extra vaccination allocation, half of the amount requested by the Metro Manila mayors.
"Narinig po yan ni Sec. Galvez (Sec Galvez heard that). I think what he can guarantee for now is around 2 million or so kasi kinakailangan magkaroon ng equitable distribution ng mga bakuna pero I think 2 million is not bad considering na 4 million ang hinihiling nila (because there must be equitable distribution of the vaccines. But I think 2 million is not bad considering they requested for 4 million)," he said during a televised press briefing.
Roque also assured Metro Manila and other areas that the country's vaccine supply will increase since more jabs will be delivered in the coming weeks.
"Marami naman pong darating pang dosage (More doses are coming)," he said. "So alam natin ang importansya na makaroon ng population protection sa lalong mabilis panahon sa Metro Manila Plus areas (so we know the importance of attaining population protection in Metro Manila Plus areas as soon as possible)," he said.
Metro Manila mayors earlier bared plans to request for 4 million more vaccines to protect their communities from the highly transmissible Delta coronavirus variant. The vaccine request will be made after the local officials agreed to place their towns under a two-week enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) to contain the virus spread as long as the national government provides social amelioration support.
President Duterte, however, decided against placing Metro Manila under the most restrictive lockdown next month even in the face of the Delta threat. Instead, National Capital Region will stay under the general community quarantine with heightened restrictions until mid-August.
The Palace has defended the decision to extend the stricter GCQ classification of Metro Manila, saying the government had to balance health of the people and the economy.
The country has so far received more than 31 million doses of the coronavirus vaccines, administering around 18 million doses. Over 7 million people have already been fully vaccinated against the virus.