Zambo City eyes vax sharing

with neighboring provinces

 

 

The local government is eyeing to share part of the city-purchased AstraZeneca vaccines with its neighboring province of Zamboanga Sibugay, and the island areas of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, which are part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar said Monday the PHP100-million worth of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines bought by the city government have started to arrive in batches from Manila.

A total of PHP200 million have been allocated for the purchase of vaccines while the city is still receiving its allocation from the national government.

“We want to share part of these vaccines but subject to the authorization of the city council as the money that was used to purchase the vaccines was from city government funds,” she said.

She said the city is nearing population protection, with 71.42 percent of Zamboangueños partially vaccinated and 69.26 percent fully vaccinated based on the Department of Health's set target of 896,200.

“Being strategically located in the center of BaSulTa (Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi) and Zamboanga Sibugay, we would want to send our tokens of love, care, and compassion to our neighbors,” the mayor said.