LOCAL chief executives (LCE) are among the top priority in the government’s vaccination drive, coming only next to health-care workers.
On Monday, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) issued resolution No. 115-B, which designates all governors and city and municipal mayors or all local chief executives under priority group A1.5.
This was in response to the petition of the League of Provinces of the Philippines on the matter.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the IATF made the decision since it considers local chief executives as the “cornerstone” of the government’s novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) response.
“They are the ones implementing the localized lockdowns and the vaccination. They are our instruments in our fight against the novel coronavirus disease,” Roque said.
IATF made the decision after the arrival of additional vaccines from the Vaccines Global Access (Covax) facility last week.
As of May 15, 2021, the government has already administered 2.9 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines.
Of these, 714,432 were used as second dose.
Roque said the government is targeting to ramp up by August the number of people who are being vaccinated, with the arrival of more Covid-19 vaccines.
“Scientists have said that the vaccination drive will have an impact once we are able to vaccinate around 35 percent of the population, and currently we are still not there,” Roque said.
“We may able to achieve the 35 percent on or about the month of August if our simulation will push through,” he added.