CEBU City Mayor Edgardo Labella said the City Government is ready to augment the number of Covid-19 vaccines which the National Government will provide for the city.

This, as the City Government has set aside a P350 million budget for the purchase of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Labella, who is in constant communication with the Covid-19 vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez, also asked him, if possible, to provide Cebu City with AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines.

Labella in a press conference on Jan. 6, 2021: “In my conversation with Secretary Galvez, he told me that Cebu City is one of the priorities. I told him we are ready to augment whatever the national government will provide.”

In the City’s Annual Investment Plan (AIP) which was approved in October, P500 million was allocated to buy the Covid-19 vaccine.

In the 2021 annual budget, the Cebu City Council approved an amount of P350 million intended for the vaccine.

Labella said should the budget be not enough, a supplemental budget will be made to augment it.

Labella also said Galvez told him that all local government units (LGUs) that will purchase Covid-19 vaccines will have to course it through the national government.

He said a tripartite agreement among the supplier, national government and LGUs will have to be observed.

He said this is a way to do away with black markets and prevent the selling of fake vaccines.

Meanwhile, following the report of a traveler from Manila who tested positive of the new variant of the coronavirus when she arrived in Hong Kong, Labella said the enforcement and implementation of the 14-day quarantine for travelers coming from Manila will be stricter.

This has been the protocol of the city since 2020 and it will only be more strictly implemented this time, he said.

The Emergency Operations Center (EOC), meanwhile, recorded its highest number of Covid-19 cases since the start of 2021, on Jan. 5 when there were 38 cases logged.

Cebu City Councilor Joel Garganera, EOC deputy chief implementer, said since Dec. 29, 2020, the city has been logging double-digit numbers of cases.

Garganera said this is now the result of the movements of the public in December such as gatherings and parties or from the health care workers, among others.

Garganera, though, emphasized they have not recorded a case who got the infection from the Misa de Gallo, as far as the contact tracing is concerned.

He said the spike of Covid-19 cases in the city is expected until the next few weeks. (JJL)