The local government of Manila on Tuesday accepted over one million pieces of washable facemasks from the government’s task group on face masks in a move to boost COVID-19 safety efforts.
Manila Mayor Isko Moreno led the receiving of donated masks from the task group composed of the Office of the President, Department of Trade and Industry, and Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Meanwhile, Mayor Moreno admitted he is willing to get inoculated with any brand of COVID-19 vaccine that will arrive in the country, including Sinovac. 600,000 donated doses of the said China-made vaccine are set to arrive in the country after it was granted emergency use approval.
“Ang ipapayo ko lagi kung ano ‘yung unang dumating, tanggapin natin… Para naman bawasan ko ‘yung pangamba mo… Hati tayo ng pangamba. Magpapaturok muna ako bago ko iturok sa’yo (My advice is to accept whichever comes first… To ease your anxieties, I will get injected first before you do),” he assured.
Around 90,000 residents of Manila have preregistered for the city’s vaccination program which is still far from the 980,000 target. The Manila mayor is optimistic that more individuals will be convinced to get vaccinated once the rollout begins.
“I have 90,000. At least I have something to attend to. Now from there, we’ll pick it up kasi mag-pass of word (which will pass around through word of mouth),” he said. – Report from Patrick de Jesus
