SEN. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go assured local government units (LGUs) of sufficient Covid-19 vaccine supply despite steep global competition in the procurement of doses.

“More LGUs want to order vaccines, but there is a problem with supply. For now, the national government prioritizes allotments since it is the one that signed the indemnification agreement,” he said.

The senator explained that the Covax Facility, as directed by the World Health Organization, wants national governments to prioritize frontliners, senior citizens, persons with comorbidities and economic workers in the inoculation list.

Go supported a Senate resolution allowing LGUs to buy Covid-19 vaccines for their constituents, saying this would expedite the country’s inoculation program.

He urged LGUs to use vaccines provided by the national government as they await the jabs they procured.

The senator said President Rodrigo Duterte instructed the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to immediately send vaccines to areas experiencing a surge in the number of Covid-19 cases, adding an additional 11 million doses of vaccine are due to arrive in July.

Go said the country has so far received 14.2 million doses of Covid-19 doses from various sources. More than 8.4 million doses of which have been administered to the public.