Two Metro Manila mayors on Friday condemned the alleged online selling of Covid-19 vaccines in their cities.
Mandaluyong City Mayor Menchie Abalos ordered a thorough investigation on “under the table” selling of Covid vaccines and instructed the city’s police chief to coordinate with the National Bureau of Investigation’s (NBI) cyber crime division.
“An investigation is already underway. Through the NBI, we will know if these are real or dummy online accounts,” Abalos said.
She stressed, “But whether real or fake, they will be answerable to the law.”
Abalos warned that if these are indeed legitimate accounts through which vaccines are being sold, appropriate criminal charges will be filed once the culprits are identified.
If these are bogus accounts, cases of misinformation or spreading wrong information shall be pursued against these persons once traced, she added.
According to Abalos, the city government is not selling Covid-19 vaccines nor vaccination slots to anyone.
She also urged the public not to patronize and to report the illegal selling of vaccines by calling the Mayor’s office at 8534-1662.
“We strongly condemn this illegal selling of our Covid-19 vaccines. All of the vaccines, regardless of the brand, is given free to all Mandaleños, and even those living outside Mandaluyong but are working in the city are also entitled to free vaccines, ” Abalos said.
Further, Abalos encouraged city residents and workers to register via the Mandavax website for vaccination schedule.
Scam
San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora also slammed the alleged “Vaccine-For-A-Fee” Scheme circulating on social media.
“Whoever is claiming to have a contact within the San Juan City local government unit selling our vaccine slots is propagating a scam which members of the San Juan City (LGU) Vaccination Team is not part of,” Zamora said after being aware of a social media post of a citizen who received an offer for vaccine access supposedly LGU vaccination program.
“This is a scam to defraud people of money for something that the government is offering for free to its citizens,” he reiterated.
He said that San Juan City has an online system where qualified citizens can register. Those who have registered have been queued, with over 23 percent of our target population already given their first dose for free.
“We have reached out to the individual who posted this so we can take necessary actions against this person claiming to have access to our vaccination program for a fee,” he said, adding that the vaccination program in San Juan City is free for residents and qualified individuals according to the guidelines provided by the Inter-Agency Task Force.
“Our government is providing the citizens free vaccines against Covid-19. Those who claim to provide access to the vaccines for a fee must be reported immediately to the authorities and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he warned.
Read full article on BusinessMirror