Children 5 to 11 years old are getting vaccinated in Cebu City in this photo in one of the vaccination sites in the city on Thursday, February 17. | CDN Digital file photo (Morexette Erram)
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City Health Department (CHD) now allows walk-ins at vaccination sites dedicated for kids aged 5 to 11 years old.
Doctor Jeffrey Ibones, CHD head, said that the city received 39,000 doses of vaccines for kids from the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7).
Half of the 39,000 will be allotted for first dose while the other half will be reserved for second dose.
The CHD estimates that the 19,500 first doses will be completely rolled out in at least 2 weeks since the city has three sites for kids’ vaccination: Ayala Center Cebu, Robinsons Cybergate, and Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC).
“Kung makahuman tag 1,000 a day, dugay-dugay pa gyod na mahurot. Mga duha ka semana siguro,” said Ibones.
(If we can finish at 1,000 a day, then it would take time for it to be used up. Perhaps, at least 2 weeks.)
Due to this abundance in the number of doses, the CHD has decided to allow walk-ins in the three sites as long as the child is already registered at Pabakunata.com
The child must be accompanied by parents as well or an authorized guardian with a special power of attorney from the parents.
“Nakita na nato nga dili na kaayo puno atong sites so pwede na gyod ta magpa walk-in. Among hangyo lang nga iregister lang sila aron mas dali na lang ang process,” said Ibones.
(We saw that our sites are not so full so we now allow walk-ins. Our only request is that they register them first so that the process will be quick.)
The city has already vaccinated 8,804 children for first dose and 3,182 children for second dose.
Mayor Michael Rama has made a marching order to intensify vaccination among minors as the city wants the return of the face-to-face classes by August 2022.
The CHD is urging more parents to get their children vaccinated before then, so that the children will be safe when they go back to school.
For adolescents aged 12 to 17 years old, at least 62,163 have already received their first dose while 51,226 have already received their second dose.
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