The Taguig City government is preparing a portfolio of vaccines that will complement the national government supply and ensure each resident will receive free vaccination.
Mayor Lino Edgardo Cayetano says the local government has set aside one billion pesos to spend for the needed preparations and vaccine supply.
Having a diverse portfolio of COVID-19 vaccines with different vaccine types, from mRNA and DNA vaccines to recombinant protein vaccines and viral vectors, creates options which could help combat different COVID-19 variants.
Cayetano says they are expecting supplies of COVID-19 vaccines from at least three pharmaceutical companies and has made the following agreements:
• Memorandum of understanding with Novavax for Covovax which is a protein based vaccine that uses recombinant technology;
• Term sheet with IP BioTech for Covaxin which is an inactivated vaccine; and
• Memorandum of agreement with AstraZeneca which is an adenovirus-based viral vector vaccine.
Cayetano says the availability of these vaccines will further expand the city’s supply and capability to combat COVID-19 including its new variants.
While the city government has locked in deals with several companies, it is also currently in talks with different vaccine manufacturers offering different types of vaccines, including Moderna and other possible suppliers of mRNA vaccines.
“While we continue to build our portfolio of vaccines and wait for the supplies to arrive, we believe that the best vaccine to administer to our citizens is the vaccine that is available now,” Cayetano said.
As of March 15, 2021, the local government has vaccinated a total of 1,694 of its medical frontliners with the supply from the national government in its ongoing vaccination rollout at the Taguig Vaccination Hub in Lakeshore Megaquarantine Complex located in Barangay Lower Bicutan.
Moreover, Taguig continues to have the lowest number of active cases in the National Capital Region currently at 21 active cases per 100,000 population compared to NCR’s average of 86 active cases per 100,000 population as of March 15. The city also has the lowest case fatality rate with 185 or 1.44 percent versus 2.75 percent of NCR.
Taguig sees the inoculation of all its citizens with free and effective vaccines as a key component of its #RoadToZero campaign.
The city government assures its citizens that these vaccines can provide protection from COVID-19 including its new variants.