THE City Government of Bacolod will prioritize the funding for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine once it is available.
This was stressed by Mayor Evelio Leonardia after some companies already developed a clinical trial for the Covid-19 vaccine.
Leonardia said he already submitted the annual budget for 2021 to the City Council, and the city is also ready to revert, re-align or augment the budget once the vaccine against the novel coronavirus is available.
“We want to ensure that everybody will avail of the vaccine. We have this agreement with the city’s budget officer that vaccine spending will be the top priority. We are willing to revert, re-align and even augment the budget,” he said.
The mayor said President Rodrigo Duterte's newly designated "vaccine czar," Secretary Carlito Galvez, who is also the chief implementer of the national Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) against Covid-19, earlier texted him that they will prepare the people for the vaccines, and Bacolod City will be one of their priorities.
Leonardia said it is reassuring to know that Bacolod City is among the priority areas in the eyes of the national officials in this fight against Covid-19.
He said those who will not avail of the vaccination program from the national government the city will fund for the vaccine.
“Let’s just wait for the vaccine against Covid-19,” he added.
As of November 25, Bacolod City has a total of 5,307 Covid-19 cases. Of the number, 4,878 are recoveries, 267 are active cases and 162 are deaths. (MAP)