By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson over the weekend said they will only distribute the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines to the local government units (LGUs) once they have fully utilized all of their CoronaVac jabs made by Chinese biotech company Sinovac.

In a statement, Lacson said given the special storage requirement of the Pfizer vaccine, the vaccination of such will only be administered at the Teresita Lopez Jalandoni Provincial Hospital (TLJPH) in Silay City and the capitol-owned Negros Residences in Bacolod City.

LGUs were ordered to submit the list of their vaccine recipients to the Provincial Health Office.

Priority groups remain at A1 (frontline health workers), A2 (senior citizens), and A3 (persons with comorbidities) categories.

He further added on the scheduled date of vaccination, recipients will be inoculated at the TLJPH or the Negros Residences.

Last week, Negros Occidental received a shipment of 1,950 vials of Pfizer vaccines. The 1,950 vials is equivalent to 11,700 doses and can vaccinate 5,850 people./DGB, WDJ