By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The province of Negros Occidental and Bacolod City received an additional 14,400 vials of COVID-19 vaccine made by China’s Sinovac Biotech last Monday afternoon.

Provincial consultant on economic affairs Alfredo “Albee” Benitez oversaw the transportation of the vaccines via his private jet at the Bacolod-Silay Airport from Metro Manila.

Benitez said 11,400 vials were given to the provincial government of Negros Occidental, while 3,000 vials were for the city government of Bacolod.

He further added he personally offered to have the vaccines transported to Negros Occidental in order for the two government units to receive them faster.

He also revealed that around 7,200 vials were diverted to neighboring provinces in Western Visayas, as vaccine allocation for Negros Occidental was previously being redirected.

A report from the Department of Health 6 revealed that 5,295 health workers in Bacolod and 6,496 from Negros Occidental had already been vaccinated,./DGB, WDJ