BACOLOD CITY, Dec. 30 (PIA) - - Taking utmost priority the accessibility and adequacy of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine for Bacolodnons, a trailblazing COVID-19 Vaccination (CoVac) Council was created through Executive Order No. 83.
Bacolod City mayor Evelio Leonardia chairs the CoVac Council with city officials and department heads as members and selected medical experts from the private sector who completed the CoVac council, a first among local government units tasked to plan and implement the City’s vaccination roadmap.
“It is the highest priority of the city government to ensure that the lives of Bacolodnons are protected from COVID-19. This is the preamble of our CoVac executive order. We must make sure we have accessibility and adequacy of vaccine supply,” Leonardia said.
Earlier, Vaccine Czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. had personally informed Leonardia and publicly declared that Bacolod City is among the priority areas of the national vaccination program.
“While (Budget) Secretary Wendel Avisado has made a public pronouncement that vaccination is the responsibility of the national government, it is to the best interest of our people, nevertheless, that major and concrete steps are taken by our local officials to ensure that the City of Bacolod will be prepared to implement and manage this expected massive health program,” he added.
According to EO 83, in light of the foregoing developments, the Bacolod City Government shall organize a council to oversee and ensure the expeditious and orderly acquisition and distribution of the vaccine in the city.
In fulfilling its functions, the council is tasked to closely coordinate with the National Inter-Agency Task Force (NIATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases, the Department of Health, the Department of Budget and Management, the major leagues of local government officials, and other government and non-government instrumentalities.
The Bacolod CoVac Council will also take charge in profiling and identifying members of priority sectors for COVID-19 vaccination; selecting and acquiring the COVID-19 vaccine(s) authorized for use in the Philippines, among others. *(LTP/EAD-PIA6 Negros Occidental)
Source: Philippines Information Agency (pia.gov.ph)
0 Comments