A health worker is inoculated during the Cebu City vaccination simulations, which started today, Friday, March 19. | Delta Letigio
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The vaccination simulations in Cebu City have begun today, March 19, 2021, and will last at least for a week.
The barangay health workers (BHW) and other frontliners will be vaccinated starting March 22, 2021, and the entire process will double as a simulation for the future public roll-out of the vaccine.
Mayor Edgardo Labella said that the vaccination of the BHW would serve as the test or a long-term simulation that would be extensively studied to smoothen out the process of the vaccination.
“Mapakita nato kung unsa ang sistema sa pagbakuna. Dili lang kay diresto lang bisan kinsa. This is a very good practice kaning simulation, dress rehearsal para dili magkatag-katag tanan,” said Labella.
(We can show the system of vaccination. We don’t do it directly and to anyone. This is a very good practice. This simulation is a dress rehearsal so that it would be an orderly one.)
umulakRead: LIST: Priority groups for government’s Covid-19 vaccination program
Health workers are interviewed prior to getting vaccinated during a dress rehearsal for the vaccination in Cebu City. | Delta Letigio
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One of the major concerns of the city government is how the process and this will be efficiently implemented without any hitches.
The process should take less than an hour per person if the city government wants to vaccinate 100 individuals per day per vaccination site.
A health worker has her blood pressure taken during the vaccination simulations in Cebu City on Friday, March 19. | Delta Letigio
The two sites where the BHWs and health workers will be vaccinated will be at the Don Bosco Youth Center in Barangay Punta and Robinson Galleria in Barangay Tejero.
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Vice Mayor Michael Rama, Project Vaccine Storm convenor of the city, said that they would look into the waiting time of the process, the movement of the people to be vaccinated within the site, the efficiency of the internet connection for the encoding of information, and the quality of the medical equipment to be used by the medical assessors.
The city government will also be taking note on the common concerns that the people will be raising during the counseling portion of the vaccination process.
This way, the city can address the concerns ahead of time through mass media and information dissemination.
Councilor David Tumulak, the one who has been preparing the vaccine site, said that every site had ready medical responders and ambulances for those who would present critical allergies against the vaccines.
So far, Rama said he was confident that the process was all ready, and they would focus more on encouraging the public to accept the vaccine.
Still, the city government will be monitoring the vaccination of the BHWs and the health workers to identify the problems of the process and resolve them before the vaccines for the public arrive.
/dbs
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