BACOLOD City – The city government is holding a dry run for the rollout of its coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program this week.
The simulation aims to identify and iron out possible challenges in the vaccination plan, which seeks to inoculate 80 percent of the metro’s population against the illness, according to City Administrator Em Ang.
Ang is the executive director of the city’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and also the coordinator of the COVID-19 vaccination (CoVac) council.
She and other CoVac members had a virtual meeting with Mayor Evelio Leonardia over the weekend.
They discussed preparations for a series of mock vaccinations across the city.
According to Ang, they are eyeing five “mega” vaccination centers and 15 community vaccination centers, which would include private and public schools.
The plan also includes information dissemination to encourage Bacolodnons to get immunized, registration of recipients, creation of vaccination teams and training of vaccinators.
The city government is projected to spend P300 million for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines.
For its first order, it secured 650,000 doses from AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals Philippines Inc. scheduled for delivery in the third quarter this year.
“This is a giant leap towards realizing our vaccination goal,” Leonardia said.
In December, Leonardia issued Executive Order (EO) 83 that created the CoVac Council tasked to plan and implement the city’s COVID-19 vaccination roadmap.
The CoVac Council is tasked to profile and identify members of priority sectors for COVID-19 vaccination; select and acquire the vaccine or vaccines authorized for use in the Philippines in coordination with the national government; develop and administer a system for registering beneficiaries, administering and tracking the distribution of doses, and monitoring of any adverse events following immunization; select and develop vaccination centers in suitable places within the city.
Bacolod remains under modified general community quarantine for the entire February./PN
