The local government of Caloocan fears that many may refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19 after the country runs into supply problems.
According to Dr. Rachel Basa, COVID-19 vaccination coordinator of the city, those who want to get vaccinated are rescheduled first due to the lack of vaccine supply.
As a result, he said, momentum may be lost, and the number of those who want to get vaccinated may decrease.
“Alalang-alala ang lahat ng LGUs (local government unit), particularly sa amin sa Caloocan, na mawala ang momentum,” said Basa.
To prevent this, the Caloocan LGU intensified the information drive.
This Wednesday, only those scheduled for the second dose will be injected in Caloocan.
Some LGUs have recently stopped vaccination in their areas, or only second doses are given due to the shortage of COVID-19 vaccines.
In Navotas City, the vaccination schedule is only for A1 to A3 priority groups or health workers, senior citizens, and the sick.
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COVID-19 vaccination momentum may be affected by lack of supply
According to Navotas Mayor Toby Tiangco, the first dose of the Sinovac vaccine has run out in the city, and the supply of the second dose is only until July 18.
Tiangco fears that the number of non-appearances may increase for the second dose due to lack of supply.
The National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 has notified local governments to use a second dose of the vaccines they hold made by Chinese manufacturer Sinovac.
This is after it was learned that the next delivery of Sinovac vaccines in the Philippines would be delayed by 2 weeks.
The next delivery will be on July 18, instead of weekly, as expected by NTF.
“Although ginagawan ng paraan ni Sec. [Carlito] Galvez na mapaaga ito next week, pero dahil nga sa delay ng shipment ng Sinovac, pinapa-prioritize natin sa ating mga LGUs (local government unit), lalo sa NCR (National Capital Region) ang pag-administer ng second doses,” said NTF Against COVID-19 deputy chief implementer Vince Dizon.
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