Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto on Tuesday said while the local government does not force its residents to get Covid-19 vaccine shots, he encouraged residents to get inoculated for their own safety.

“Hindi naman po ito sapilitan pero ako po hinihikayat ko po ang mga Pasigueño na kung may pagkakataon na mabakunahan po tayo, tulong na po natin ito sa bayan natin (This is not mandatory but I personally encourage Pasigueños to get shots if they have the chance to get vaccinated, this could be our contributions to the country),” Sotto said during the visit of the Covid-19 Coordinated Operations to Defeat Epidemic (CODE) team, led by the National Task Force (NTF) and the Inter-Agency Task Force on for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF-EID) at the Tanghalang Pasigueño in Pasig City.

Sotto urged residents to trust experts in the selection of Covid-19 vaccines, saying once the country’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gives the green light, then it is safe to use.

“Basta approved po ito ng FDA, makakaasa po tayo na ligtas at mabisa ang mga brand na ito. Magtiwala po tayo sa mga dalubhasa sa medical field at kami naman sa lokal na pamahalaan, nandito kami para tulungan at suportahan ang ating (As long as it is approved by the FDA, we are assured that these brands are safe and effective. Let us trust the experts in the medical field and we, at the local government, are here to help and support our) national immunization program,” Sotto said.

“Basta may approval ng FDA, safe po ito (As long as it has FDA approval, it is safe). We will do what we can to properly disseminate the correct information to the people,” he added.

Meanwhile, NTF chief implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. assured the public that all the vaccine candidates will go through a stringent regulatory evaluation and selection process of the vaccine experts panel and the FDA.

“Marami po tayong challenges, maraming shortfalls sa supplies but we will do our best para makuha natin ang vaccines na kailangan natin (We have faced many challenges, there are many shortfalls in the supplies but we will do our best to acquire the vaccines that we need),” Galvez said.

He urged the public to trust all the government’s procured vaccines.

“Lahat po ng vaccines na makakapasa sa FDA, ina-assure namin na safe po ‘yan (All the vaccines that will pass the FDA selection, we can assure you that these are safe),” he said.

Galvez said the national government is now waiting to finalize negotiations with various pharmaceutical companies for the acquisition of around 148 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines.

Officials of the CODE team have visited Pasig City to discuss the pandemic situation, the third phase of the national action plan (NAP 3), as well as the vaccination roadmap strategic framework and updates.

This is part of the government’s preparation for the Covid-19 vaccine deployment and the national immunization program. (PNA)