Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Monday that efforts to provide COVID-19 vaccination to at least the health workers and the vulnerable groups in the province during the second quarter of the year “are being set in motion.”
“Be assured that the province is not lagging behind in the allocation of the vaccine for we are working and coordinating with our vaccine czar, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., with the help and assistance of our provincial consultant for economic affairs Albee Benitez. With the vaccine on the horizon, let us tread the last stretch of this crisis together,” Lacson said in his message to the Capitol employees during the year’s first flag-raising rites.
In an interview, the governor also said that the provincial government has set aside P30 million for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines.
He said that he already signed a non-disclosure agreement with a pharmaceutical company as part of the negotiation.
“I cannot give too much details except to say that we are in the loop in getting vaccines for our province. It could be an allocation from the national government, if not, probably some of it we will have to buy,” Lacson said.
He said the budget will be sourced from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management fund, but he acknowledged it is a “very little” amount.
Lacson said the earmarked fund will be just on top of the vaccine allocation that the province will get from the national government.
“It’s not the policy of the national government to leave an LGU (local government unit) behind. Nobody will be left behind. Somehow, there will be coverage for all,” he added. – NLG
