Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 28) — Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte on Thursday said they may enter into a tripartite agreement with the private sector to procure COVID-19 vaccines, as suggested by Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr.
“Sec. Galvez has suggested to us that we should also pool together the private sector and get them to work with us so we can also procure vaccines through a tripartite agreement that includes the private sector,” Belmonte said in a briefing when asked if private sector employees will be included in the list of people who will receive free COVID-19 vaccines.
Quezon City has secured a deal to procure an initial 1.1 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine that would stand to benefit 550,000 residents. The local government said they aim to immunize 80% percent of the city’s population or 1.6 million residents in six to eight months once enough vaccines arrive.
“Ideally that is the target. We will do our best. But definitely, we can only do this once the vaccine arrives,” Quezon City COVID-19 task force head Joseph Juico said during a forum on Thursday.
The national government will provide the additional doses needed by the Quezon City government to reach its target, according to Inter-Agency Task Force co-chair Karlo Nograles.
“Kung ano po ang kulang at kinakailangan na additional vaccines for Quezon City, ang national government na po ang bahala diyan,” Nograles said in the same forum.
[Translation: The national government will provide the additional vaccines for Quezon City.]
Juico said 1,046,027 individuals are included in their vaccine priority list.
The official said they have identified 24 vaccination sites spread out in all six districts of Quezon City, adding they plan to open them for 8 hours a day every day. He said 27 personnel will be assigned to each vaccination center. They include medical doctors, encoders, inoculators, and post-vaccination monitoring personnel. Ambulances will also be on standby to transport vaccine recipients who may experience adverse reactions to the vaccines.
