ILOILO – After ensuring an initial supply of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines enough to inoculate over a hundred thousand Ilonggos, the provincial government set priorities on who gets immunity first among the province’s population of roughly two million.
“Unahon naton ang mga frontliners,” said Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr.
He was referring to healthcare workers such as those in capitol-run health facilities, local government unit contact tracers, barangay workers including members of the Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams, barangay nutrition scholars, and barangay tanods, among others.
Yesterday, Defensor representing the provincial government signed a tripartite agreement with British pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca and the National Task Force (NTF) vs COVID-19.
The pact greenlighted by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan secured the province 270,000 doses of AZD1222 Vaccine priced at $1,350,000 or roughly P64.9 million.
Administered by intramuscular injection, AZD1222 uses as a vector a modified chimpanzee adenovirus.
The initial supply of anti-coronavirus shots will be enough to inoculate more or less 135,000 frontliners as the vaccination requires two doses.
Apart from frontliners, Defensor is also eyeing senior citizens and persons with comorbidities who would be the first to get jabbed.
Those who will refuse, according to Defensor, will not be forced to submit to anti-coronavirus shots.
The governor is currently drafting an executive order relative to the province’s vaccination plan.
He earlier earmarked P95 million for the purchase of AZD1222 Vaccine projected to arrive in the second or third quarter of 2021, or the months of July to September, at the earliest.
Cold storage facilities are ready to be installed at the Iloilo Sports Complex and district hospitals, Defensor said.
With COVID-19 vaccines in sight, Defensor will summon all of the local chief executives in the province for a series of discussions.
“While waiting for the delivery, we will meet with our mayors kag i–plastar naton ang aton vaccination plan,” the governor said.
In a related development, health authorities are tightly monitoring the COVID-19 metrics of the province in anticipation of post-holiday spike of infections.
On Thursday, the Department of Health logged 11 additional infections, pushing to 3,083 the province’s total confirmed COVID-19 cases. Of the total figure, 196 were active, 2,783 recovered and 103 died.
Dr. Maria Socorro Colmenares-Quiñon, Provincial Health Office chief, revealed they detected 36 COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, so far this year’s highest number of cases recorded in a single day.
She once again urged the public to avoid attending public gatherings like birthdays, wakes and burials, among others, that could lead to more COVID-19 infections.
Quiñon reiterated the key to stopping or at least slowing down the spread of coronavirus is to practice the “3M strategy” (Mag Maskara, Mag Distancia kag Manghinaw)./PN
