San Juan, Mandaluyong ink deal with national gov’t, AstraZeneca for COVID vaccines

The local governments of San Juan and Mandaluyong have inked a tripartite agreement with the national government and AstraZeneca so that their residents could be provided with COVID-19 vaccines at the soonest possible time.

“This is just the beginning of our efforts to provide a safe vaccine against COVID-19 to our constituents in San Juan City. AstraZeneca is a trusted institution that partnered with Oxford University in the United Kingdom to come up with an effective vaccine to finally put this pandemic behind us,” Mayor Francis Zamora said in a statement.

Zamora said a total of P50 million was allocated for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines. He said the local government is ready to provide additional funds if the initial P50 million is not enough.

“If the P50 million allocation is not enough, the city government, through our city council, is ready to add more funds so that all our constituents who wish to get the vaccine may get it from the San Juan City LGU for free,” Zamora said.

Zamora said the registration for the inoculation was launched on January 4. So far, 8,310 people have already signed up.

On the other hand, Mandaluyong City Mayor Menchie Abalos confirmed that the city also signed a pact with AstraZeneca and the national government.

But Abalos refused to disclose how many doses are stated in the deal but she said the local government has a budget of P200 million for the purchase of vaccines.

So far, other localities have announced that they also signed deals to buy AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines: Iloilo City for 600,000 doses; Caloocan City for 600,000 doses; Vigan City for 100,000 doses; and Valenzuela City for 640,000 doses. — RSJ, GMA News