MANILA -- The national government assures that all local government units will be given enough vaccine supplies nationwide following the arrival of more COVID-19 vaccines in the country in the coming weeks.

In Jose Abad Santos, Davao Occidental, Mayor Jason John Joyce said that the municipality’s vaccination rate is now increasing due to the efficient distribution of vaccine supply from the national government.

“Never po tayo nagkaroon ng kakulangan sa mga bakuna mula sa national government. [We never had a shortage of vaccines from the national government.],” Mayor Joyce said during Network Briefing News on Friday, October 15, hosted by Presidential Communications Sec. Martin M. Andanar.

He also cited that the government heightened its vaccine distribution initiatives in a bid to reach population protection by the end of this year, most especially in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas and poor municipalities.

As of now, the National Task Force Against COVID-19 said that the country has received more than 85.5 million COVID-19 vaccines since February 2021, while nearly 23 million individuals are now fully vaccinated.

Mayor Joyce admitted that despite the improved vaccination rate in his town, some of their elders are still hesitant to receive COVID-19 jabs.

“Recently po tumaas ang vaccination rate po dahil na rin po sa increased awareness ng ating mga kababayan. However, we have to admit our senior citizens po medyo mayroon pa po talaga silang vaccine hesitancy. [Recently, the vaccination rate has increased due to the increased awareness of our people. However, we have to admit our senior citizens are still hesitant to be vaccinated.], he said.

For more than one year, the town maintained its zero COVID-19 cases since the onset of the pandemic, according to Mayor Joyce.

“Noong June lang pumasok ang unang COVID-19 case when we allowed the entry of our locally stranded individuals and returning OFWs without any stringent requirements like RT-PCR, medical certificates, etc. [We only had our first COVID-19 case last June when we allowed the entry of our locally stranded individuals and returning OFWs without any stringent requirements like RT-PCR, medical certificates, etc.],” he added.

The local government has procured more testing kits to increase and intensify its testing capacity, citing the government strategy on “proper testing, contact tracing, and treatment of people.”

“The national government has set a good example on how to address the COVID problems. [The national government has set a good example on how to address the COVID problems.],” he said. (PCOO)