LGUs need time to adjust to ramped-up COVID-19 vax drive, LPP head tells gov't

The head of the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) on Friday said local government units need time to catch up with the national government's ramped-up COVID-19 vaccination goal.

Interviewed on Dobol B TV, LPP president and Marinduque Governor Presbitero Velasco Jr. pointed out that many LGUs are used to receiving only a small allocation of COVID-19 vaccine doses.

“Nag-aadjust pa nga. Nasanay kasi po dati na kakaunti yung supply na dumarating [The LGUs are still adjusting. They Are used to having few supply of vaccines before]," he said.

Velasco made the statement after Health Undersecretary and National Vaccination Operations Center chairperson Myrna Cabotaje called  out the supposed lack of sense of urgency of some LGUs regarding vaccination.

According to Velasco, some LGUs are still working on having cold storage facilities for the vaccines and hiring more vaccinators to improve their respective vaccination drives.

He added that “low-rank” municipalities do not have the resources for these adjustments.

Velasco also noted that the distribution of vaccines to LGUs are irregular, which also affected their inoculation efforts. He said the national government should have consulted LGUs regarding vaccination targets.

On Thursday, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said they aim to conduct a three-day "national vaccination" this month to train LGUs to conduct massive vaccination activities.

Galvez said some towns and municipalities lack the know-how to conduct "massive mobilizations on inoculation." —KBK, GMA News