The continued rise in cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Bacolod City has prompted the city government to ask for an increase in vaccine allocation from the national government.

Mayor Evelio Leonardia said in a statement he coursed the request through Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., the chief implementer of the National Task Force Against COVID-19, in a letter sent on Wednesday, May 5.

He told Galvez that the city is “being hit hard by this new wave of COVID-19 infections” and “ramping up our vaccination program will be critical to saving lives and restoring economic activity in our city”.

“As city mayor, I prioritize the health and welfare of our citizens above all other considerations. We will spare no effort to ensure that Bacolodnons can get vaccinated quickly and effectively,” Leonardia said, adding that the city needs to “accelerate the pace of vaccinations to move through the priority groups more quickly.”

The mayor cited data from the Emergency Operations Center, showing an alarming increase of 422 percent in the number of confirmed cases here — from only 271 cases in March to 1,415 in April.

He said that this has resulted in increases in hospitalization and death, with hospitals and intensive care units nearing full capacity as well as experiencing a shortage in medical staff.

Leonardia also said the increase was recorded despite the strictest policies in place such as mask mandates, capacity limits, liquor ban, curfew, suspension of inbound travel, and alternative work arrangements.

“We have been doing our very best to be ahead in terms of measures to limit the spread of COVID-19. We are also on pace to have more new cases as we continue to intensify contact tracing and expand targeted testing,” he added.

So far, Bacolod has received 19,160 vaccine doses from the national government and has inoculated 11,993 out of its 424,992 residents eligible for vaccination.

The city government has secured 650,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines on its own but the supply will not be delivered until the third quarter of this year.PNA