CALOOCAN CITY, Jan. 31 (PIA) --The Coordinated Operations to Defeat Epidemic (CODE) Team on Thursday lauded the Quezon City government for coming up with a comprehensive vaccination plan that aims to inoculate more than one million of its residents.
Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) chairperson and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III noted that the city’s immunization plan is aligned with the national vaccine program.
“Kampante po kami ni Sec. Galvez na ang inyong mga plano ay nakalinya. This plan is very well aligned with the national immunization plan,” he said.
National Action Plan on COVID-19 and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr. agreed with Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte’s view that the country will be able to reach herd immunity faster should more residents decide to be vaccinated.
Galvez cited Quezon City, which has the largest population in Metro Manila, as an example of how cities can provide a major boost to the country’s inoculation program.
“Quezon City is the biggest city in the country in terms of its population. This is the reason why we appreciate the measures being carried out by the city, under the leadership of Mayor Belmonte, to help the national government in securing safe, effective and sufficient vaccines for all Filipinos,” he said.
“Sang-ayon po kami kay Mayor Joy na kapag mas maraming residente ng Quezon City ang nabakunahan, mas mapapabilis ang ating pagkamit ng herd immunity sa buong bansa,” the vaccine czar said.
“Sabi nga po ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte, kapag nagkaisa at nagtulungan po tayong lahat, ay tuluyan na nating masusugpo ang pandemyang ito at mas mapapabilis ang pagbangon ng ating ekonomiya,” he added.
Mayor Belmonte thanked the national government for supporting the city’s COVID-19 response and vaccination program, as this partnership shows how the national and local governments are working together to address the health crisis.
“Kapag nangangamba po kami dito sa Quezon City, kayo po ang aming nilalapitan, kahit ano pong tanong, or concern, kapag inilapit ko po sa inyo, lagi niyo akong sinasabihan na ‘wag mag-alala, hindi po namin kayo pababayaan, at ‘yung mga words of reassurance ninyo ay nagbibigay lakas sa amin. Salamat po,” she said.
For his part, Vice Mayor Giancarlo Sotto pointed out that the Philippine National Deployment and Vaccination Plan will ensure that there will be a safe and orderly administration of COVID-19 vaccines.
“In our current battle against the global pandemic, it is of utmost importance that our QCtizens have access to safe and effective vaccines. We are thankful for the opportunity initiated by Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez to meet and align with the IATF experts to discuss procedures and protocols under the Philippine National Deployment and Vaccination Plan against COVID-19,” Sotto said.
“This will ensure that our QCtizens will be able to benefit from safe and orderly administration of the life-saving vaccines,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, IATF co-chairman and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, assured city officials that the government will only procure and deploy vaccines that have gone through the stringent evaluation and selection process of the Vaccine Experts Panel and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“Hinding hindi po tayo papayag na tuturukan ang kapwa nating Filipino kung hindi natin naa-assure ang kaligtasan at effectiveness ng mga bakunang ito,” Nograles said.
For his part, Duque assured the Quezon City government that the national government will help fine-tune and assist in the implementation of their vaccination plan.
“We are here to assist the local chief executives as to what they feel and objectively see for themselves as gaps in the implementation of this extremely important immunization plan. We look forward to the local chief executives to really orchestrate this, the most effective and efficient way,” he said. (NTF/PIA-NCR)
Source: Philippines Information Agency (pia.gov.ph)
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