Mayor Isko Moreno and Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna at the inspection of the Manila COVID-19 Field Hospital. Photo by JERRY S. TAN
Assured of new supply, Manila continues vaccination using jabs reserved as 2nd dose
INSTEAD of doing nothing while awaiting the resupply of vaccine doses before again going into mass inoculation, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno found a way to use the ‘waiting time’ to have more people vaccinated.
Yesterday (June 11), the city government of Manila continued its mass vaccination program using the vaccines supposedly reserved as second doses, after getting an assurance of appropriate resupply.
Apart from the second dose vaccination in 15 sites of over 9,500 health frontliners, senior citizens and persons aged 18 to 59 with comorbidities or those belonging to the A1, A2 and A3 categories, first dose vaccination was also done in Robinson’s Place, Lucky Chinatown mall, SM Manila and SM San Lazaro, in which 2,000 doses were allotted each for those in the A2 and the A4 category or senior citizens and those considered as economic workers, respectively.
Moreno explained that he came up with the decision after talking to vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, Jr. who guaranteed that the city’s new batch of vaccines will be coming in a few days and in time for the administration of second doses to those who are due for it.
As such, the mayor said that the vaccines reserved as second doses will be replenished in time, via the forthcoming resupply.
He again thanked President Duterte and Galvez for the slated arrival of the latest allotment of doses, saying Manilans really want to be vaccinated already, as can be gleaned from what happens every time there is a scheduled vaccination in various sites.
Citing a report from Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna who is in charge of the mass vaccinations along with Manila Health Department chief Dr. Arnold Pangan, Moreno said that the people line up as early as 2 a.m. and when the vaccines are limited, the cut-off is usually reached as early as 6 a.m., way before the scheduled 8 a.m. opening of the vaccination sites.
In another development in Manila, Moreno thanked the personnel under City Engineer Armand Andres, Manila Traffic and Parking Bureau head Dennis Viaje and Department of Public Services chief Kenneth Amurao for the swift distribution of food boxes for the month of June.
The mayor said that in a matter of just three days, a total of 180,000 families have been covered by the delivery of food boxes of the same number to 186 barangays, covering the whole of District 1 and part of District 2.
Once again, he called on barangay chairmen to distribute the food boxes at once and not let them sit in their barangay halls for another minute longer.
