BY WAYNE A. BIGSAT
Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Alberto Benitez announced that he will not pay the remaining balance of the AstraZeneca vaccines purchased by the previous administration.
Mayor Benitez said in a press conference held yesterday that a representative from the vaccine firm had come to collect the remaining balance of P98 million.
He said only 216,000 AstraZeneca vaccines had been utilized out of 650,000 that the previous administration had ordered and there are still 434,000 vaccines stored in the Department of Health (DOH) Central Office, of which over 300,000 had already reached its expiration date.
He also said that there are 100,000 left that can still be used but only within the next two weeks before it reaches their intended expiration.
The mayor added that, as of now, they have to fully utilize the remaining AstraZeneca vaccines left.
The mayor explained that he told the representative from the pharmaceutical firm that he will try to the best of his abilities not to pay the remaining amount as he says he would rather utilize that amount in other ways that can benefit the people of the city.
Benitez asked the City Legal Office to closely examine the purchase agreement and find a loophole.
Benitez also confirmed “miscalculation” with the previous administration’s over order.
The mayor also said they delivered late and the firm said there was no intended date for delivery.
AstraZeneca Vaccines have a shelf life of only six months, the mayor added.*
