Mayors of cities outside areas classified as high-risk for coronavirus cases appealed for vaccine supply as infections surge in other parts of the country.
The League of Cities (LCP) on Friday pleaded that the national government send incoming vaccine deliveries to Western Visayas, MIMAROPA, Cagayan Valley and parts of the Cordillera Administrative Region – regions that recently reported an upsurge in infection – even as supply had been largely earmarked for the so-called NCR+8 or Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Pampanga, Batangas, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao.
”We deem that the preemptive action of distributing vaccines to a broader number of cities will prevent a potential new wave of case surges throughout the Philippines,” LCP president and Bacolod City Mayor Bing Leonardia, and LCP secretary-general and Calapan City Mayor Arnan Panaligan said in a letter to vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr.
Leonardia and Panaligan included Batangas and Pampanga, but these provinces are already included in the priority areas previously identified by pandemic task force officials.
It was previously noted by Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire that the bulk of limited vaccines is for NCR+8 to attain herd immunity faster.
“Base po sa ating mga eksperto when you do this, when you vaccinate more on these specific areas, mas malaki po ang impact sa populasyon natin because we are going to cover more, and we are going to address the burden of disease when we do that,” Vergeire said Friday.
