Gov. Arthur Yap said that he was advised by vaccine czar Sec. Carlito Galvez to save Bohol’s money rather use it to buy vaccines.
The governor gave the statement in reaction to criticisms that the province is unable to procure vaccines but a city such as Ormoc was able to do so.
It was reported, on Aug. 28, 2021, that Ormoc City mayor Richard Gomez received 11,000 doses of Sinovac jabs and 10,000 doses of Astra Zenica vaccines that were procured by the city government.
The governor said that he was advised by Galvez to save Bohol’s money since the National Vaccine Operations Center (NVOC) will be providing enough vaccine supplies to Bohol.
It has been reported, that Bohol has earmarked P100 million to purchase vaccines.
“Ang advise ni Gen. Galvez nako nga i-save nalang ang kwarta,” the governor said.
Yap emphasized that he was advised to use the P100 million for the establishment of temporary treatment monitoring facilities (TTMF).
He added that Galvez pointed out to him that P100 million is enough to buy several doses which the national government via the NVOC can provide.
“Sa tinood ra, steady naman ang pag abot sa mga [vaccine] supplies gikan sa kauluhan,” the governor quipped.
It was reported that the governor’s critics chided Yap for not using the budget allocated for vaccine purchase unlike Ormoc City, which was able to procure several vaccine doses for its constituents.
Moreover, the governor said Bohol should not be compared to Ormoc because the province’s vaccine budget is not enough to cover the vaccine needs of Boholanos and the province will get its share of vaccine supply from the NVOC anyway, which is enough to inoculate the people in the province.