Cagayan de Oro City has allocated a portion of its budget to purchase coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines.

In his daily press briefing on Thursday (January 7), Mayor Oscar Moreno said the city government is considering setting aside PHP300 million to PHP500 million for the COVID-19 vaccinations program.

“I think that the city may need to allocate PHP300 million to PHP500 million for the vaccination and we will have to set aside funds for that,” Moreno said.

However, he said a specific number of the population and the timetable from procurement, delivery, to the administration of the vaccines should also be put into detail.

The decision to acquire the COVID-19 vaccines by local government officials came amid reports that a new variant has emerged in some parts of the world.

“We (will) be meeting with all City Hall departments concerned on our commitment to the national government in the vaccine rollout program. There are already some local governments that specified a certain amount for the vaccination but we in the city want to make sure that we can commit the funds,” Moreno said.

Aside from Cagayan de Oro, other local governments in Mindanao which have recently announced the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines for their residents are the cities of Zamboanga, Davao, and Iligan, and Lanao del Sur province.

Moreno said the Department of Health and other national government agencies have already coordinated with them regarding the vaccination program.

“Already, the national government through the Department of Health (DOH) asked for our data and our own program in relation to the vaccine rollout,” he said.

(Source: PNA)