Robredo: COVID-19 vaccine supply in provinces a problem

Vice President Leni Robredo said Friday that COVID-19 vaccine supply in the provinces remains scarce.

Robredo made the comment after her office’s COVID-19 Vaccine Express initiative for members of the workforce in Pampanga which was made possible in cooperation with the local government of San Fernando City, Pampanga.

Under this initiative, the COVID-19 vaccine supply is provided by the government while Robredo’s office and private partners provide for the volunteer vaccinators and incentives to those who decide to get vaccinated.

“Iyong problema, actually, supply. Ang problema ng supply, karamihan sa mga provinces. Kasi iyong demand, wala pa kaming nakikitang problema sa probinsya (The problem is really supply of the COVID-19 vaccine in provinces because on the demand side, we don’t see any problem). The demand is there,” she said.

“Sa Metro Manila, mas maluwag iyong supply. Pero iyong sa provinces, lalo noong experience namin sa Bicol, iyong problema talaga namin supply, iyong hindi tuloy-tuloy. So kahit marami pa iyong volunteer doctors, parating kailangan naming i-cut. Halimbawa iyong San Pedro, ang dami pang gustong magpa-bakuna, kailangan nang i-cut kasi wala nang supply (Vaccine supply in Metro Manila is stable, but in the provinces, it is a problem. We encountered this supply problem in Bicol and in San Pedro where we had health workers ready to inoculate people with the vaccine but there is no supply),” she added.

Based on government records, around 17 million are already fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

This figure, however, is way behind the target of fully vaccinating 76.3 million to achieve herd immunity against COVID-19. — Llanesca T. Panti/RSJ, GMA News