LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The municipal government earmarked P10 million for the purchase of vaccines for residents not yet vaccinated once the national inter-agency task force for the management of emerging infectious diseases will allow local governments to procure their own vaccines for future inoculations.
Mayor Romeo K. Salda stated that the said fund had been set aside in the local government’s approved supplemental budget for this year and ready for disposal once there will be available vaccines for procurement.
Earlier, the municipal government targeted to inoculate some 94,110 of the adult population of the capital town but based on the results of the ongoing vaccination, only more than 11,000 residents are fully vaccinated while nearly 11,000 individuals received their first dose of the vaccines and are awaiting for the schedule of their second dose.
Mayor Salda claimed that the municipal inter-agency task force for the management of emerging infectious diseases will start relaxing the guidelines for the purchase of additional vaccines so that local governments can allot funds to purchase their own supply of vaccines to help in speeding up the realization of the desired population protection and eventual herd immunity of the residents.
He disclosed there has been an increasing number of residents wanting to be inoculated by available vaccines from the health department and it is important at this time that the supply of vaccines is readily available to ensure that those going to the vaccination centers will be given their doses.
However, he admitted that there are still individuals who refuse to be vaccinated because they do not believe that there is Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), aside from the fact that they believe vaccines will help spare people from contracting severe COVID-19 and save them from untimely death due to the deadly virus.
The local chief executive appealed to residents to first register in the local government’s online registration platform and await for the message on their schedule of vaccination to avoid overcrowding in the vaccination centers and ensure that the prescribed minimum public health standards will be properly observed.
The mayor stipulated that the municipal government continues to be mindful of the issues and concerns of the residents on the ongoing vaccination roll out in the locality and are addressing these.
He expressed his gratitude to the health department for continuously ensuring the availability of vaccines for the residents of the municipality. By HENT