FILE PHOTO: Vials labeled “COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccine” and syringe are seen in front of displayed Johnson&Johnson logo in this illustration taken, February 9, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City will be allotting all Johnson & Johnson vaccines exclusively for senior citizens to encourage them to get vaccinated.
The city recently received 2,900 vials of the American vaccine, which will be good for 14,500 doses.
Dr. Jeffrey Ibones, City Health Department (CHD) head, told CDN Digital that Acting Mayor Michael Rama had instructed an intensified roll-out for senior citizens as the city lagged behind inoculation of the A2 priority group.
Ibones said the acting mayor met the CHD and Vaccine Advisory Board (VAB) on Friday, July 23, 2021, to discuss the roll-out for senior citizens and how to improve it.
The CHD lamented the slow roll-out to the senior citizens with barely 30,000 out of the 80,000 senior citizens inoculated causing a huge disparity between the target population and the actual inoculation.
Rama said he would want the matter addressed immediately so the city could catch up with its target vaccination especially now that the COVID-19 cases were on the rise.
“Regarding sa senior citizen, nagmeeting mi ganina with acting mayor, ipatawag ang mga barangay captains, ang OSCA (Office for Senior Citizens Affairs) kay atong i-allocate ang Johnsons & Johnsons didto sa senior citizens,” said Ibones.
(Regarding the senior citizens, we meet with the acting mayor, who said that he would meet with the barangay captains, and OSCA (Office for Senior Citizen Affairs) for the allocation of the Johnson & Johnson vaccines for the senior citizens.)
The Johnsons & Johnsons vaccine will only take one shot to take effect with no second shot needed and the city government believes this is the best option for the senior citizens considering that travelling may not be convenient for them.
Since they only need to go to the vaccination site once, this may encourage the senior citizens to take the chance to get themselves protected from the COVID-19.
“Unta mas maengganyo na atong mga senior citizens nga magpabakuna kay kausa naman lang sila moadto sa vaccination center,” said Ibones.
(I hope that the senior citizens would be convinced to have themselves inoculated because they would only go once at the vaccination center.)
The city’s chief doctor also revealed that they were planning for a more intensified registration for the senior citizens to get the target population masterlisted.
The registration is necessary because the Department of Health (DOH) will only allocate enough vaccines corresponding to the master-list of the city.
With an intensified approach, Ibones hopes that more senior citizens will finally get vaccinated and protected from the COVID-19.
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