The Iloilo City Government has distributed COVID-19 bivalent vaccines that arrived last week mostly to hospitals, while others to frontliners in health centers and dialysis clinics.
“Once we have more, we will open it to everyone,” said Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas in a media interview on Monday, June 25.
Treñas said the vaccines were part of the donation of the Lithuanian government.
Iloilo City Health Officer Annabelle Tang said that the city has received 268 vials of the bivalent vaccines from the Department of Health; 100 vials were given to hospitals operating in the city.
“The remaining 168 vials are being rolled out to our health personnel in the district and to senior citizens in the community,” she said in a separate interview. One vial is equivalent to six doses, she said.
Tang said the management and administration of the latest vaccines are based on DOH Department Memorandum number 2023-0178 or the Interim Guidelines on the Management and Administration of COVID-19 Vaccine Pfizer Bivalent.
Phase I of the rollout will be given as a third booster dose to healthcare workers and senior citizens at least four to six months after their second booster dose.
Meanwhile, the mayor said the city government will no longer purchase vaccines because of the “very, very nil” takers.Perla Lena/PNA
