Gov't to reallocate 75% COVID-19 vaccines to 'NCR Plus' bubble areas —DOH exec

The national government will reallocate majority of the newly-arrived COVID-19 vaccine doses to areas included in the "NCR (National Capital Region) Plus" bubble, which were recently placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ)  starting Monday, a health department official said Sunday.

In an interview over Super Radyo dzBB, Dr. Myrna Cabotaje, Health Undersecretary for Field Implementation and Coordination Team, said 75% of the vaccine supply will be distributed to health care workers in high-risk COVID-19 areas.

"May bagong dumating na 400,000 (doses) ng Sinovac galing sa China nu'ng March 24. Naka-deploy na ang karamihan ngayon. Nag-iistart na kasi nga nag-decide na dahil hotspot ngayon ang (Metro) Manila at 'NCR Plus' bubble, medyo iko-concentrate ang pagbabakuna sa NCR," said Cabotaje, adding that vaccinations will continue despite the implementation of ECQ on Monday, March 29.

[There are 400,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines that arrived from China last March 24. These were deployed already (but) it was decided that since there are hotspots in the 'NCR Plus' bubble, we will concentrate vaccinations there.]

"So ang ginawa natin, nag-reallocate tayo sa 75% ng 400,000 to about 300,000 (doses) ng vaccines mapupunta sa NCR, sa Region III specifically in Bulacan at sa Region IV-A," she added.

[So what we did was, we reallocated 75% of 400,000 to about 300,000 (doses of) vaccines will be sent to NCR, Region III specifically in Bulacan and Region IV-A.]

The remaining doses will be given to healthcare workers in Cordillera, Cebu, Davao and Region VI, Cabotaje said.

Meanwhile, 75% of the close to 1 million shots of vaccines made by British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca will also be dispatched for areas inside the 'NCR Plus' bubble. 

"'Yung 1 million din sinuggest at nirecommend ng IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force) at approved ng Presidente... na 75% din maiiwan sa 'NCR Plus' bubble para may proteksyon ang health worker at mga mamamayan," Cabotaje said, when asked about the deployment of almost 1 million vaccines from AstraZeneca.

[Of the 1 million doses of vaccines, as recommended by the IATF and approved by the President...75% will be given to the 'NCR Plus' bubble to protect health workers and the public from COVID-19.]

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. disclosed that the 979,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses may arrive between March 24 to March 26. 

With Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite and Laguna placed under ECQ, the strictest community quarantine, from March 29 to April 4, only limited industries will be allowed to operate.

The strictest lockdown was implemented after the country reported more than 9,000 new COVID-19 cases for two consecutive days. —KG, GMA News