San Juan and Caloocan will be allocating their own funds to acquire vaccines for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

The San Juan city government also said on Monday that it has started the registration for residents interested to avail of free Covid-19 vaccine shots once they become available.

San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora said the Covid-19 vaccination program will be free for all residents as the city government allocated a P50-million budget for the procurement of the vaccines.

Residents who wish to receive free shots of the Covid-19 vaccine may register online via the link https://forms.gle/1N39ywUFnUdWwPgDA, or they can visit their respective health centers and barangays hall to assist them for manual registration.

“This data will be our basis for the quantity of vaccine that we will procure,” Zamora said in Filipino in a video statement.

The city government will prioritize healthcare and medical workers for the immunization against Covid-19.

They will be followed by the indigent senior citizens, Zamora said.

In Caloocan, Mayor Oscar “Oca” Malapitan in a message to reporters said they are shelling out P125 million as initial fund to procure Covid vaccines, while another P1 billion can be made available.

“This is to augment the vaccines that the government will provide. This is to make sure that if there is any shortfall in vaccines by the government, we will be ready to provide the vaccines to city residents,” he said in Filipino.

Earlier, the cities of Makati, Pasig, Valenzuela and Navotas allocated P1 billion, P300 million, P150 million and P20 million, respectively, of their own funds to purchase Covid-19 vaccines.

Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian said allocated budget for the Covid-19 inoculation program will be sourced from the city government’s Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund (LDRMMF) and the Quick Response Fund (QRF).

“Our efforts are meant to augment and supplement the initiative of the national government who will take the lead on this endeavor,” Gatchalian said. CURRENTPH