420k COVID-19 vaccine doses delivered to Region 10, says Dizon

At least 420,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine doses have been delivered to Region 10 or Northern Mindanao so far, National Task Force Against COVID-19 Deputy Chief Implementer Vince Dizon said Wednesday.

In a television interview, Dizon gave the figure in response to the criticism of Cagayan de Oro lawmaker and Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez that Mindanao is being neglected in the government's COVID-19 response due to lack of COVID-19 supply, resulting in deaths.

"420,000 doses have been delivered to Region 10, and 56,000 of them were delivered yesterday," Dizon said in a CNN Philippines interview.

Of the 56,000, Dizon said 35,000 were Pfizer-BioNTech doses while 21,000 were Sinovac doses.

"We are not leaving anybody behind. We still have scarcity of vaccines, but we will be giving vaccines as fast as we can to those who need them most," Dizon added.

Dizon said that vaccine distribution is based on those with highest risk of infection which are the densely populated cities and those areas with huge contribution to the economy.

"That is why we are prioritizing NCR Plus 8 (Metro Manila, Pampanga, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Metro Cebu and Metro Davao) since these are economic centers," Dizon said.

"We also have expansion areas, including Cagayan de Oro and Iloilo city. That strategy [of prioritizing economic centers] is what makes the most sense," Dizon added.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque earlier denied that the national government is neglecting areas outside Metro Manila, saying that surge in COVID-19 cases outside the National Capital Region is not due to lack of vaccines but non-compliance of minimum public health standards. — Llanesca T. Panti/RSJ, GMA News