Delay in vaccine rollout for Cebu City BHW looms
The vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca produced fewer side effects in people aged 56 and over than in younger people. | Justin Tallis/AFP
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Rollout of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines for Cebu City’s barangay health workers (BHWs) and other medical frontliners might be delayed.
This after the city’s Vaccine Board disapproved the proposed sites where the inoculation was supposed to take place, said Councilor Dave Tumulak.
Tumulak on Monday, March 22, 2021, told reporters in an interview that the City Vaccine Board, chaired by Vice Mayor Michael Rama, will not allow the vaccination to be held at the Don Bosco Youth Center in Barangay Punta Princesa.
Read: Two vaccination sites for Cebu City brgy. health workers, frontliners ready
“Some of the concerns they raised included poor ventilation and the site itself was not PWD (persons-with-disabilities) friendly,” said Tumulak in Cebuano.
Tumulak also said the decision of the vaccine board came just a few hours after the arrival of 1,600 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines the city government ordered for BHWs.
“We were told the AstraZeneca vaccines arrived, and that these should be administered immediately to our health workers,” he said.
This development prompted Tumulak to ask help from the Vaccine Board to search for new vaccination sites.
While multiple organizations and firms such as malls offered their establishments as vaccination sites, the councilor said they needed to secure permission from the city council first.
“It actually takes a lot of time. We need a MOA (memorandum of agreement) and clearance from the city council,” he explained.
The city government targeted to inoculate its BHWs within this week after conducting several simulation exercises in Don Bosco Youth Center in Barangay Punta Princesa.
Cebu City is also expecting to receive its shipment of COVID-19 vaccines ordered from India.
RELATED STORY: What to expect in Cebu City’s vaccine roll-out?
/bmjo
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