Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno on Thursday morning received the country's first shipment of vaccines procured via tripartite deals.
Tripartite deals are a three-way agreement between the drug manufacturer, the national government, and the private sector or a local goverment unit.
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Through this deal, some 400,000 doses of the China-made Sinovac jabs arrived, which Moreno said could be used by over 200,000 individuals in the city.
“We will try to finish this set in the next two weeks at the rate we’re going with vaccines onhand,” Moreno said. “Matatapos namin ‘to. Pipilitin namin,” he added.
Manila on Tuesday administered 35,572 doses in a single day, its highest record since vaccines first arrived in February. The city also accepts walk-ins for vaccinations. As of June 18, the city has injected 461,409 doses of vaccines to residents and essential workers.
Moreno clarified that while the shipment was procured via a deal, more vaccines bought by the national government are set to arrive and will be used appropriately to achieve the city’s goal of herd immunity by September.
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“We will synchronize our action toward the goal of the national government, which is September. Hopefully, pag na-achieve yun ng national government, ng local government, by December kahit papano medyo masaya naman po ang Pilipino,” he said.