Mandaue City health workers and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) officials attend an information, education, and communication seminar for the COVID-19 vaccination program sponsored by the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI). CDN Digital photo | Mary Rose Sagarino
MANDAUE CITY, Philippines — The health workers and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) officials from barangays Subangdaku, Bakilid, and Banilad in Mandaue City were the first batch to attend the information, education, and communication for COVID-19 vaccination program seminar of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) held at the Subangdaku gym on Tuesday, May 11, 2021.
The city and RAFI have partnered to strengthen the city’s COVID-19 vaccine information campaign.
All of the health workers and SK officials of the city’s 27 barangays will undergo this seminar.
Tomorrow, May 12, the health workers and SK officials from barangays Cabancalan, Casuntingan, Maguikay, and Tipolo will have their turn still at the Barangay Subangdaku gym.
The seminar will end next week.
Subangdaku Barangay Captain Ernie Manatad, chairman of the city’s COVID-19 vaccine board, said the seminar is important so that the residents will be educated about the vaccine especially that a lot of them are still unsure whether to receive the vaccine or not.
RAFI first partnered with the Cebu City and Lapu-Lapu government.
Tats Samson, RAFI’s Humanitarian Disaster Preparedness Response member, said they have partnered with the tri-cities first because these cities have a larger population and have higher COVID-19 cases compared to the other places in Cebu Island.
Samson said it is important to correct the public’s assumptions about the vaccine so that they will support and welcome the vaccination program.
Samson added just like their experience in Lapu-Lapu City, the health workers who refused to be vaccinated before have listed themselves after the seminar.
The speaker of the seminar is from the University of the Philippines Medical Alumni Cebu Chapter.
The health workers and SK officials will be tasked to cascade the information they learned to their constituents.
Meanwhile, Manatad said about 2,000 of the more than 24,000 registered senior citizens in the city have already received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine while 600 out of more than 1,400 medical workers have already received their second dose. /rcg