Quezon City Councilor Winston Castelo is pushing for a P10-million fund to indemnify residents who would have adverse reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine.
He filed a resolution in preparation for the mass inoculation once the city government receives its order of COVID-19 vaccines as well as doses coming from the national government.
The proposed fund is similar to the indemnification appropriation of the national government pending before Congress to meet the precondition set by vaccine manufacturers.
Under the resolution, the District 2 councilor said the proposed P10 million fund “shall cover compensation and indemnification of vaccine recipients in Quezon City who pursue claims for vaccine-related injuries or any adverse effects resulting from vaccination.”
He cited the experience of many countries already inoculating their citizens where rare adverse effects are recorded.
The fund should encourage city residents to have themselves vaccinated when the shots become available, he said.
“Vaccine hesitancy is one of the major challenges to vaccine uptake and the achievement of herd immunity, which is required to protect the
most vulnerable populations, allow the nation to return to pre-pandemic normalcy and get the economy on the road to recovery,” he added.
The city government earlier allocated P1 billion for the purchase of 750,000 doses of vaccine from British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca.
At two doses per vaccine recipient, the initial supply is good only for 375,000 city residents.