Under the leadership of Mayor Isko Moreno, Manila City prides itself for putting “Manileños first.”

In the pandemic, the capital once again strives to uphold this motto by being ahead in the acquisition of vaccines.

On Thursday evening, December 31, Moreno announced that the local government had already set up a pre-registration website for Manileños who would like to get vaccinated for free against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Manila City, he said, has been in talks with big pharmaceutical companies since July 2019 – making it one of the first local government units in the country set to have vaccines at a time when the national government faces delays in its procurement.

While ahead, the Manila City local government was still vague with regards to its vaccination plan and how this electronic pre-registration fitted into that scheme.

The process

Manila residents just need to follow 4 steps to get “pre-registered.”

1. Visit the manilacovid19vaccine.com website then click “Register or Reserve”
2. Fill in the required information
3. Wait for a one-time pin sent to the supplied mobile number, enter the number in the website, and click “Register”
4. Electronically sign the submission

The information required details about where the registrant resides in Manila, as well as, the usual questions about symptoms of COVID-19.

“That’s it!” the website proudly exclaims.

How Manila got ahead

He did not disclose the names because of non-disclosure agreements, but Moreno said that they have particularly promising deals coming from two pharmaceutical companies.

The mayor said that the local government was set to ink an advance marketing commitment contract in the coming days, which would reserve 400,000 doses good for 200,000 Manila City residents.

Having an advance commitment contract does two things: it reserved a number of vaccines for Manila, as well as it set the price and payment scheme when the vaccines are available. There was no payment yet at this point, only a reservation.

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Ready for execution?

The mayor assured his constituents that the local government was prepared to administer the vaccines when they arrived, crediting the Manila Health Department.

This matters because some vaccines require constant low-temperature storage and gentle handling for them to work. Moreno did not explain how they have prepared for this, as some countries that have acquired vaccines, like the United States, had to prepare freezers and transportation plans for distribution.

As for who gets the vaccines first, Moreno said that the city would still prioritize medical frontliners and senior citizens before aiming for the pre-registered residents.

Don’t get too excited

While the announcement has raised optimism for Manileños, there were still important unanswered questions.

First, Moreno still did not disclose their timeline for when they expected vaccines would be readily available for its residents, or at least its priority citizens.

Second, Moreno did not announce a system to process pre-registration that does not require an internet connection and a working computer or phone. Tens of thousands of residents in the capital have little to no access to the website.

Third, he has not explained how the local government would validate the responses submitted online. The website does not require submission of official identification cards or other validation steps before an appointment.

Lastly, the local government was expected to face scarcity in vaccination, so it needs to prioritize who after the medical frontliners and elderly should be vaccinated. How this decision process can be systematized has yet to be disclosed.

Rappler sought clarification from Manila City spokesman Julius Leonen and Moreno himself but they have yet to reply as of posting. – Rappler.com