PALAYAN CITY- The city government is eyeing a facility operated by a huge farmers’ group in Nueva Ecija for possible storage of the vaccine against the coronavirus disease it plans to procure.
Mayor Adrianne Mae Cuevas said they have sent AstraZeneca a letter “to reserve for us and we intend to purchase the same amount (P50 million) ng vaccine nila.”
At the same time, the mayor disclosed that the LGU has created a committee composed of lawyers, the city social welfare and development office, physicians, and the Katipunan ng mga Magsisibuyas ng Nueva Ecija (Kasamne) that will create rules and regulation of the vaccine roll out.
Kasamne, which is based here, operates a cold storage for onions.
“Kasi kailangan mong ma-store pa rin yung vaccine pagka-deliver. Yung pag-transport, I think it will be delivered directly naman sa storage. Then once the vaccine is there, kailangan din namin yung how we would transport said vaccines, so sabi ko we have to prepare yung mga other things like icebox, dry ice,” she said.
The mayor said Sec. Carlito Galvez, Jr. has assured the LGU that the national government will provide assistance in the vaccination, such as cotton balls and syringes, among others.
Meanwhile, the provincial government is expected to provide vaccine for some 150,000 residents with around 300,000 doses.
Gov. Aurelio Umali assured the people of Nueva Ecija that the provincial government has already allocated funds for the vaccine.
In Cabanatuan City, Vice Mayor Julius Cesar Vergara said the city government has already signified intention to procure vaccines from AstraZeneca.
“We wrote a letter to LCP (League of Cities of the Philippines) regarding our interest in AstraZeneca and according to national policy, we need to have a DOH-LGU tripartite agreement,” Vergara said.
