The city government of Manila received on Saturday, August 6, an additional Covid-related donation from the US government through US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan, together with Department of Health (DOH) Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire, attended the handover of personal protective equipment, and testing and hygiene kits.
Lacuna then expressed her gratitude to the US government for the assistance it gave since the start of the pandemic.
“With your help, we were able to administer more than 300 doses of Covid-19 vaccines through the deployment of mobile (inaudible) and donations of IT equipment to enhance our vaccine data reporting and management,” the mayor said.
“We are proud to share that during the early phases of the nationwide vaccination rollout, we were actually one, if not the first among the local government units in the national capital region with the fastest vaccination rate. Again, we are grateful for your help,” she added.
Blinken, meanwhile, thanked the Filipino medical workers for their efforts in providing care to those affected by the virus.
“As the Philippines continues to work to vaccinate people, to reduce the spread and save lives, my message is simple: The United States is with you,” he said.
“We’ve been proud to have donated more than 33 million safe, effective vaccines to the Philippines, no political strings attached,” he added.
Blinken also recognized the assistance given by the health workers during the vaccination of more than 70 million people against Covid-19.
Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, the Philippines has received an estimated total of $33 million assistance distributed by the US government.