Cebu City launches home vaccination program

Home vaccination in Barangay Punta Princessa in Cebu City. | Photo Courtesy of Vice Mayor’s Office

CEBU CITY, Philippines — In its bid to bring vaccination closer to those who have a difficult time going to sites, the Cebu City government launched the Bakuna sa Tugkaran, or Vaccination at the Doorstep, on Wednesday, August 25, 2021.

Vice Mayor Michael Rama said they have completed their studies on the home vaccination program and with the help of the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation (ERUF), they can now implement it.

The city has already vaccinated 73 individuals through the trial period, including senior citizens in retirement homes and a few individuals in their homes.

On Wednesday, they conducted the first home vaccination for an individual in Barangay Punta Princessa. This individual has mobility problems.

“This is our way to attend to our citizens who could hardly leave their homes to be vaccinated, like those who are bedridden and, by some physical or health conditions, have difficulty to walk outside their homes, especially our senior citizens,” said Rama.

Dr. Peter Mancao, who leads the Vaccination at the Doorstep, said that they have two teams to conduct the home vaccinations and each team should be able to inoculate six each day.

Doctor Jeffrey Ibones, the City Health officer-in-charge, said that the vaccine to be inoculated to those who avail of home vaccination will be the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccines so it will only require one shot.

For now, the home vaccination will be done every Friday, or at most, twice a week, because the Vaccination Operations Center (VOC) needs to properly schedule the home vaccination.

“Ang J&J man gud nga vaccine ang one vial kay six persons, so kailangan maablihan ang usa ka vial mainnoculate dayon within two hours,” said Ibones.

Once an individual schedules a home vaccination, the VOC will work on plotting the areas that will be prioritized. This way, the movement of the teams will be smooth from one house to another.

Individuals with difficulties in mobility and senior citizens will be prioritized for the Vaccination at the Doorstep. They must also register at pabakuna.com.ph before getting a reservation.

Those who need home vaccination can set a schedule by calling 161,  233-9300, or 0918 921 0000.

Rama said they are also planning to conduct more home vaccinations for senior citizens during the release of their financial assistance, which has also been done on a house-to-house basis since the start of the pandemic.

“We will study how we can do that, but I believe we can do (the vaccination) together with the financial assistance,” said the vice mayor.

Currently, the city has inoculated over 68,0000 out of the 84,000 seniors in the city.

/bmjo

READ MORE: Lapu-Lapu City to bring inoculation drive to sitios, subdivisions