Metro Manila — Pasig City is the first local government unit in the country to receive approval for its COVID-19 vaccination plan.
Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto announced this on Tuesday after members of the Coordinated Operations to Defeat Epidemic team visited the city for a briefing on the proposed local immunization program. Among them was Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., who lauded Pasig’s preparations, saying it could be a model for other LGUs.
“I was told that Pasig is the first LGU with a DOH (Department of Health)/WHO (World Health Organization)-approved vaccination plan!” Sotto said in a social media post.
“Our LGU’s Beat Covid-19 Task Force will continue to work with our national government agencies, WHO, private medical institutions, and NGOs. They have been with us every step of the way,” he added.
The vaccination plan
The city’s frontline health workers, estimated to be around 5,930, will be the first to be vaccinated, based on the plan shared by Sotto.
The next priority group are indigent senior citizens, followed by the remaining senior citizens, the remaining indigent population (which includes persons with disabilities), and uniformed personnel. According to the local government’s estimates, there are 80,000 senior citizens in the city, 107,291 indigents, and 2,691 uniformed personnel.
These all add up to a total 195,912 residents who will be prioritized for immunization.
Pasig has allocated ₱300 million for the vaccination of its people. It has so far secured 400,000 doses from the British-Swedish drug maker AstraZeneca, which will benefit 200,000 individuals.
Meanwhile, 16 schools, five hospitals and the Tanghalang Pasigueño were identified as vaccination sites. Each of these will be manned by a team composed of at least 74 medical and non-medical personnel.
The local government also listed pre-vaccination plans, which include information dissemination, as well as post-vaccination measures, which will center on monitoring those who received the shots for possible adverse effects.
Other CODE team members who joined Galvez in the Pasig visit are Testing czar Vince Dizon, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority General Manager Jojo Garcia, Interior Undersecretary Epimaco Densing, and Health Undersecretary Carolina Taiño.
In a media briefing later in the day, Garcia said the team is also scheduled to visit the cities of Taguig, Makati, and Manila on Wednesday to assess their readiness to implement their respective vaccination programs.
“So, lahat ng LGU sa Metro Manila pupuntahan ‘yan to check the preparation,” he said. “We’re also going to check paano iha-handle. Alam naman natin sensitive ‘yung mga vaccine, may mga temperature ‘yan, mga freezer.”
[Translation: So, we will check the preparations of all LGUs in Metro Manila. We’re also going to check how they will handle the vaccines, as we know these are sensitive and require storage with specific temperatures.]
CNN Philippines