The Taguig City government has purchased three more brands of vaccines for the coronavirus disease to fulfill its target to vaccinate a million residents.
The city initially signed a deal with the biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca for the procurement of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Mayor Lino Edgardo Cayetano said the city government signed a deal with the British drug supplier, and was also in the process of procuring other brands from suppliers in the United States and India.
He says the procurement will serve to complement the vaccine supply from the national government.
“While supplies from the national government continue to come in, we are expecting our orders of AstraZeneca, Covovax, Covaxin, and Moderna to arrive by the third quarter of the year. This will help the city in achieving its aim of fully inoculating the Taguig citizenry,” said Cayetano.
Cayetano made the statement Monday after receiving his first dose of Sinovac vaccine together with other A1.5 government frontliners, senior citizens and adults with comorbidities.
“I urge all Taguigeños to register through Taguig Registry for Access and Citizen Engagement to secure your vaccination,” he said.
The local government prepared a P13.5-billion recovery budget for this year, with P1 billion to be used for the COVID-19 vaccination program.
Meanwhile, Mayor Cayetano ordered his men to prepare the list of residents who will receive ‘ayuda’ or financial assistance that will be given by the national government to Metro Manila and other areas covered by ECQ.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Department of Social Welfare and Development had issued the guidelines for the distribution of financial assistance of P1,000 per individual, with a maximum of P4,000 per family, to residents affected by the ECQ after President Duterte approved the release of P22.9-billion to affected individuals.
Cayetano said the priority individuals include the beneficiaries of the Social Amelioration Program under the Bayanihan Act 1 and 2, SAP wait-listed beneficiaries, vulnerable groups such as low-income individuals, persons with disability and single parents.