‘AstraZeneca vax deal no longer rescindable’

ILOILO City – The vaccine deal of the city government and the Inter- Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases ( IATF- MEID) with British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca could no longer be rescinded.

This, according to Mayor

Jerry Treñas, was the reply of the IATF to his letter informing them of the city government’s intention to rescind the contract for vaccines against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

But the city government is not giving up just yet.

Treñas said he already forwarded the IATHF’s letter signed by Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje to the City Legal Office for further study to determine what else could be done.

Last month, Treñas wrote AstraZeneca expressing the city government’s intention to rescind the contract, citing the late deliveries of the vaccines.

Since the deal was tripartite, he also informed the IATF-MEID and the Department of Health.

Last January 2021, the city government sealed a purchase deal with AstraZeneca for 600,000 doses of COVID- 19 vaccines at P500 per dose.

The city government’s Special Education Fund was used for the purchase as authorized by a joint resolution of the Department of Education, Department of Interior and Local Government, and the Department of Finance.

Treñas s ai d t he c i t y government, just like other local government units, decided to purchase COVID-19 vaccines on their own last year because the taskforce was too slow to act.

“Kon abi maayo tani pagdala… ang mga LGUs indi tani magbakal mo. (The t a s k f o r c e ’ s p a n d e m i c response) was not handled well, to say the least that’s why nagbalakal tanan,” said Treñas./