KALIBO Mayor Emerson Lachica wanted the town to become the first local government in Aklan province to roll out the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine to residents.

In a press briefing, Lachica said since January 2021, they had already formed a technical working group and started forging an agreement with a private pharmaceutical firm for the inoculation program of their constituents.

"We hope that we could start the inoculation program within this year. We had allocated around P50 million for this project," he said.

Kalibo has about 86,000 residents. At least 80 percent of them are target to be vaccinated sometime this year.

Residents in Kalibo who wanted to avail themselves of the vaccination program were urged to register at the Kalibo government website.

"We have identified two vaccination sites. They are at Pastrana Park and nearby the Aklan Catholoc College Gym," said Lachica.

He did not disclose the name of the vaccine company, saying negotiation continues.

For her part, Kalibo Vice Mayor Cynthia DelaCruz said that she wanted to be also inoculated together with members of the Municipal Council under the town's vaccination program. (SunStar Philippines)