"The LGUs and their executives are at the front line of the battle against COVID-19."
Local government units and their respective chief executives from the governors and mayors down to the barangay captains may not be taking their job seriously in supervising the vaccine rollout.
The disparity in the vaccination rates in Metro Manila and the provinces remains wide despite the ample supply of doses. The logistics aspect of the vaccine rollout is very challenging, but LGUs have known this beforehand. Provincial governors and town mayors had months to prepare for the arrival of the vaccines. They were briefed on the cold storage requirements and other logistical arrangements needed to distribute the vaccines to their constituents.
President Rodrigo Duterte the other day ordered the Department of the Interior and Local Government to sanction LGUs and their chief executives who do not perform well in speeding up the government’s COVID-19 vaccination program. Mr. Duterte has every right to impose discipline on public officials who have been amiss in their job. The LGUs and their executives are at the front line of the battle against COVID-19.
Reaching herd immunity or vaccinating 70 percent of the population is not an easy task in a country comprising over 7,000 islands. Preparations and organizing teams to administer the vaccines, however, can overcome the difficult job.
National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief Carlito Galvez Jr. should also coordinate with health officials and LGUs to achieve the government’s vaccination target of 1 million to 1.5 million jabs a day by Nov. 30. Mr. Galvez cited the need to activate around 4,000 to 5,000 vaccination sites nationwide that can each accommodate at least 500 people daily.
The vaccination sites will not be a problem. Shopping malls, private and public schools, churches, military camps and even the function halls of different government agencies have offered their facilities as vaccination centers.
But first and foremost, LGUs must communicate with concerned agencies and coordinate the vaccination rollout. They must have built the logistical capacity and composed a team by now to man the vaccination centers. They should not be the weakest link during this pandemic.