Seares: Did Cebu City officials drop the ball on Covid vaccines? Mayor Labella trusted IATF's Galvez, was 'still waiting' as other LGUs clinched the deal.
Labella said a vaccine board has been created to oversee the city’s vaccination program.
The board will be headed the City Health Office chief and will have members composed of “experts from the field of epidemiology”.
Labella said he was informed by the country’s vaccine czar Carlito Galvez that the China-made Sinovac will be the vaccine that will be available soonest in the country.
Western-made vaccines such as Pfizer and AztraZeneca could be available in June or July yet.
“I instructed the vaccine board to determine those who are willing to take the vaccine right away. These are the nitty gritty that we are trying to address,” said Labella.
SunStar January 08, 2021 FEARING the spread of Covid-19 infections, the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (RIATF) 7 has recommended the cancellation of all “physical and actual performance-based” Sinulog Festival activities this year.
The RIATF sent its recommendation to the national IATF asking the latter to disallow any Sinulog performances even if these are pre-recorded.
In a resolution passed during a virtual meeting on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021, the RIATF 7 said it deems it more practical to present Sinulog Festival activities and performances from previous years through an online platform.
The RIATF 7 said all performance-based Sinulog Festival activities such as the Ritual Dance Showdown and Street Dance Competition, among others, pose a threat to the participating contingents and the possible crowd that it might draw which may, consequently, increase the risk of Covid-19 infection.