BACOLOR town Mayor Eduardo “Diman” Datu announced that the municipal government had increased its coronavirus vaccine allocation to P20 million to better address the needs of those in need of immediate vaccination once supplies are available.

Datu said the town targets to inoculate some 70 percent of its residents starting with those in the priority lineup set by the Department of Health. The increase in funding came from government savings and project realignments, according to the mayor.

It could be remembered that some P5 million had been earmarked for the purchase of vaccines for his town if an approved vaccine will be made available in the country.

Datu said the initial purchase would be used to inoculate front liners in the town like police, government workers, teachers and health personnel.

He said the town is currently doing orientations with health workers on a local vaccination plan that is aligned with the national deployment and vaccination plan.

Sources said AstraZeneca will be the first vaccine to be rolled out in Pampanga. Each dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine costs $5, the lowest price among the candidate vaccines in the market. It is administered in two doses.

The AstraZeneca vaccine was developed in partnership with the University of Oxford.

Based on an interimz analysis of clinical trials in the United Kingdom and Brazil, it has been found to be 90 percent effective against Covid-19 when given as a half dose, followed by a full dose at least one month apart.