Presidential candidate and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso assured Manileňos that the city government has enough supply of vaccines amid a surge in COVID-19 cases across the country,
“I want to re-assure the people of Manila that there are many vaccines. Calm down folks in Manila City, we have a lot of vaccines,” the 47-year-old local chief executive said, after inspecting the Sta. Ana Hospital COVID-19 Vaccine Storage Facility.
Moreno made the statement as thousands of both residents and nonresidents of Manila trooped to vaccination sites across the city.
As of Friday noon, Moreno said the city government Manila has an aggregate stock of more than 300,000 doses of vaccines stored in the world-class facility that was established in February last year at the beginning of the vaccination drive against COVID-19.
These include: about 179,000 doses of Pfizer; 55,000 of Moderna; 38,000 of Astrazeneca; 6,500 of Janssen; and 3,700 doses of Sinovac.
Moreno made the assurance after thousands of non-Manila residents availed of the city’s open vaccination policy to get booster shots at Divisoria and at the drive-thru booster shot facility at the Bonifacio Shrine.
On its second day now, the booster shot night vaccination at Divisoria targets drivers, vendors and delivery boys who come from as far north as Cagayan and Bicol from the south to deliver food products to Metro Manila.
On the other hand, the Bonifacio Shrine drive-thru facility caters to for couriers from Grab, Angkas, Lalamove, Shopee, Mr. Speedy, FoodPanda, and Lazada, among others, who are mostly employed in delivering food packages to homes.
Moreno has said vaccinating this sector ensures that the food supply chain will not be disrupted despite the ongoing Omicron-driven COVID-19 surge.
“We still have resources. We are trying to extend assistance to protect as many as possible, especially in the sector that gives us the assurance that we have food. That is what is important to us and that is what is important in Metro Manila,” he stressed.
In the meantime, Moreno reiterated his call for people to get their booster shots or to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
“I call again as the father of our City of Manila, get vaccinated as soon as possible. Let’s protect ourselves, so that our loved ones can be protected,” he said.
Earlier, Moreno said that during the peak of Manila’s vaccination drive, between 40,000 and 50,000 people were able to have their first or second dose a day in the various vaccination centers scattered in the six districts of Manila. Then for the next two months after the
peak, vaccinations fell to 2,000 a day.
When there was another surge in infections due to the Omicron variant, Moreno said the City of Manila again experienced a renewed interest in getting vaccinated beginning with 7,000 people last Tuesday and the following day, 16,000 people got their jabs in the evening vaccination in Divisoria.
Moreno also assured that the City of Manila has sufficient supplies of anti-Covid 19 drugs such as Remdesivir, Tocilizumab, Baricitinib and Molnupiravir.
“All they have to do is coordinate with our Manila Health Department or with the numbers we post, they just call and we will deliver and we will extend the drugs against Covid-19. Only a prescription is really needed. Because we could not dispense without the prescription, ”he added.
Meanwhile, Moreno said they have already recorded 180,000-plus COVID-19 swab test since testing began in July 2020. He encouraged
those who want to be tested to go to Manila as they offer free RT-PCR test.
