Mayor Isko Moreno asks for the indulgence of those who patiently waited inside a mall, hoping to get vaccinated even if they werenot scheduled. He allowed them in and lifted the ‘no walk-in policy’. Photo by JERRY S. TAN
Isko lifts ‘no walk-in’ jab policy
THE mass vaccination program in Manila reverted to the ‘open policy’ system where walk-ins will be allowed once again, along with those who have been texted for their scheduled jab.
Mayor Isko Moreno said the decision was spurred by the dismal failure of the scheduling system implemented by the city government on Monday, in response to requests from some quarters and individuals complaining about the long lines in the vaccination sites.
Moreno said he was deeply bothered by the updates he had been getting on Monday, showing empty chairs in the 22 vaccination sites of four malls and 18 schools.
Citing data provided by Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna, who is in charge of the city’s vaccination program along with Manila Health Department chief Dr. Arnold Pangan, the mayor said the city sent text messages to 28,000 registered individuals for their scheduled vaccination on Monday. Of the number, only about 4,900 showed up.
On the other hand, Moreno said reports from the ground as relayed by Lacuna showed that so many tried but failed to get the jab due to the ‘no walk-in’ policy. They did not leave the site in the hope of getting accommodated, since they saw that the seats were empty.
Moreno said that while normally, the cut-off during deployment of limited doses is usually reached even before the vaccination begins, Moreno lamented that when they implemented the scheduling system, the total number of vaccines was only about 1,000 by noontime.
Vaccination in all sites is held from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
When the very low turnout continued until mid-afternoon with throngs still waiting and hoping to get vaccinated, Moreno decided to lift the scheduling system and revert to the ‘open policy’ saying he pitied those who got frustrated. He personally went to one of the malls and directed the vaccinating teams to accommodate the walk-ins.
The mayor also talked to Lacuna and Pangan and gave the go signal for the accommodation of the walk-ins in all of the city’s vaccination sites.
In a matter of two hours, over 9,600 were vaccinated. By closing time, the total number of persons who got inoculated was 18,388.
The city of Manila had been constantly breaking its record in terms of the number of individuals vaccinated in one day. Its latest record was over 28,000 so that it was cited as the city within the National Capital Region with the fastest system of vaccine deployment and the most number of vaccines produced so far.
The scheduling system was implemented in March where of the 1,000 texted, only 200 showed up, Moreno said.
