MANILA – The local government of Valenzuela conducted Tuesday a dry run for the rollout of its COVID-19 vaccination program, which seeks to inoculate an initial 70 percent of the city’s population against the illness.

Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian said the simulation aims to identify and iron out possible challenges in vaccination program prior to its rollout.

The city government said it expects to start vaccinating residents by the second half of 2021 after it receives an initial 640,000 doses from pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, which could cater to 320,000 people.

• Valenzuela City secures 640,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines

The local government said it planned to vaccinate 70 percent of its eligible population—or those aged between 18 to 65—in 17 vaccination sites during the last 6 months of the year.

The program will make use of the city’s contact tracing system ValTrace to validate and schedule vaccination, Valenzuela said.

Gatchalian added that participating in the vaccination program was voluntary, and residents need to pre-register and undergo consultations before they receive the vaccine.

The local chief executed added that he had already registered to get vaccinated.

Once inoculated, Valenzuela residents would receive a “vaccination passport” as well as a pin that they can wear as part of the city’s vaccine education campaign, the local government said.

As of Jan .25, Valenzuela has recorded 9,108 confirmed COVID-19 cases, of which 8,685 have recovered while 264 died, data from the city government showed.