CAGAYAN de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno said Friday, March 19, that they are expecting more Covid-19 vaccines to be delivered to the city.
This, amid reports of President Rodrigo Duterte agreeing to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr.’s recommendation on using up all the 525,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines to cover more frontline healthcare workers.
“We should expect more vaccines coming. Katong pang second dose, i-deliver na na nila soon. There will be more vaccinations hopefully that will take place,” Moreno said.
Moreno also reiterated his position that the government should optimize the allocation of all available vaccines to more medical frontliners.
According to Dr. Ted Yu of the City Health Office, Northern Mindanao received a total of 19,700 doses of Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines, of which 33.28 percent or 6,577 doses were allocated to Cagayan de Oro.
Moreno was optimistic that at the rate the city is going, he said they might begin the vaccination rollout for senior citizens after 10 days, adding that in more than one week, the city has vaccinated more than 6,000 medical frontliners.
As of Thursday, March 18, a total of 6,513 frontline healthcare workers in Cagayan de Oro have received their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine. The city is aiming to vaccinate around 10,000 healthcare workers.
Acting City Health Officer Dr. Lorraine Nery, for her part, said that simulation exercises were conducted at Barangays Gusa and Bulua on Friday, March 19, in preparation for the coming vaccination rollout for senior citizens and other priority groups.
“Nag program na ta nga by next week mahimo naa pud tay ma-simulate na other areas,” Nery said.
Nery also mentioned that during the simulation exercises, the city’s logistics team noticed some concerns, particular in terms of manpower.
“Hopefully mahuman nato og simulate ang atong 15 ka mga vaccination sites na gi-prepare,” Nery said.
