LGUs assured of more equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines –ULAP

The Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) said on Tuesday that the national government had committed itself to a more balanced distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to the provinces.

At the Laging Handa public briefing, ULAP chairperson and Quirino Governor Dakila Cua said that this was a change from the previous policy which had the National Task Force Against COVID-19 and the Department of Health focusing on hotspot areas.

“Equitable talaga ang gagawin nilang distribution para nga po makahabol naman ang the rest of the country doon sa ating hinahabol na herd immunity,” he said.

(They will make the distribution equitable so that the rest of the country would also reach herd immunity.)

The NTF had informed Cua that the national inoculation effort could reach 50% to 60% of the target population by December with the supply of COVID-19 vaccines to the provinces.

As of September 22, the NTF said 19,376,832 or 25.12% of the country’s target population had been fully vaccinated.

Cua also asked that provincial local governments be allowed to procure vaccines from manufacturers as some of the brands were only transacting with the national government.

In August, League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) President and Marinduque Governor Presbitero Velasco Jr. said local governments deferred, in the meantime, to the national government when it came to signing deals for COVID-19 vaccines.

He said some brands have yet to deliver even the initial orders of vaccine doses as there was no available supply. — DVM, GMA News