The Tagbilaran City local government unit (LGU) still has a long way to go in its procurement of COVID-19 vaccines which it plans to give to its constituents for free this year.
Tagbilaran City Administrator Cathy Torremocha said that they will still have a meeting to thresh out details regarding the free inoculation of the city’s constituents including which vaccine to purchase.
“Mag meeting pa ta kung unsay angayan nato na vaccine, depende pud na sa DOH (Department of Health)…Daghan pa pung e-consider like kung Pfizer, unsa man ang nature sa iyang vaccine, ang storage, daghan pa tang factors na dapat mahibal-an,” Torremocha said.
The LGU also still has to come up with figures to determine how many people need to be inoculated to achieve herd immunity.
Torremocha noted that senior citizens will be prioritized in the vaccination drive once it starts.
Mayor Baba Yap earlier announced that the city will be conducting pre-registration activities in each barangay for senior citizens who wish to be inoculated.
The city had also included in its annual budget for 2021 P10 million for the purchase of vaccines.
According to Torremocha, it would still depend on the availability of budget whether or not the city will earmark more funds for the free inoculation.
The additional allocation would be set aside through a supplemental budget should the city decide to acquire more vaccines.
According to the Senate committee on finance, a two-dose vaccination costs between P366 to P4,504 depending on which pharmaceutical company supplies the jabs.
Based on the Senate data, the following are the costs of each vaccine inclusive of Value Added Tax:
- Astrazeneca – P610
- Novavax – P366
- Pfizer – P2,379
- Moderna – P3,904 to 4,504
- Sinovac – P3,629.5
- Gamaleya – P1,220
- COVAX Facility – P854
(A. Doydora)