The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) urged the local government units (LGUs) to prepare for the arrival of more COVID-19 vaccine supplies and to ramp up their vaccination efforts in line with the agency’s aim to reach four million jabs by the end of next month.
According to a press release, DILG Secretary Eduardo Año said that the target in the National Capital Region (NCR) is to do 120,000 jabs a day starting next month with the help of the private sector that has already started simulation exercises with the private supply chain experts.
So far, there were a total of 7,764,050 vaccine doses received from various suppliers including the COVAX facility as of May 11, 2021 and 83% of these have already been distributed to 3,688 vaccination sites across the country.
Año said that more vaccines will be allocated to NCR Plus, Batangas, Pampanga, Cebu, Davao, and other areas with high numbers of active cases to contain the spread of COVID-19.
“The 1.5 million AstraZeneca vaccines have already been deployed to various LGUs nationwide. One million of these will be taken as the first dose while some 525,600 doses have also been reserved for the second dose,” he said.
DILG Undersecretary and Spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said that LGUs can prepare for the incoming vaccines by doing microplanning and simulations for ramped up vaccination.
LGUs must identify additional possible vaccination sites, available local cold-chain storage facilities, and transportation mechanisms. “Additional vaccination sites may also be visited by the Department of Health (DOH) if the LGU needs assistance,” he added.
Malaya also made a suggestion for LGUs to engage and include other professionals such as teachers, counselors, pharmacists, medical and allied health professionals and interns; and the private sector as part of the vaccination workforce. – (DILG)/CF-rir
