BY IME SORNITO and DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
ILOILO City – The mayor of Escalante City, Negros Occidental may be ordered to justify his “jumping” the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination line.
A show-cause order against Mayor Melecio “Beboy” Yap Jr. is likely to be issued, according to Director Juan Jovian Ingeniero of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Region 6.
“We already reported the case to the DILG central office,” Ingeniero told Panay News.
Aside from Yap, Ingeniero said, they have not received reports of other similar cases.
The director enjoined all local chief executives (LCEs) to wait for their turn.
“‘Wag kayo mag-una kasi ‘di pa kayo priority sa ngayon,” the director stressed.
“Mayroon pong usapan na ang priority po sa vaccine ay medical frontliners,” he added.
Based on the guidelines of the Department of Health (DOH) and the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), the vaccination’s top priority include:
* public and private health facilities (hospitals, medical centers, laboratories, infirmaries, treatment rehabilitation centers, and temporary treatment and monitoring facilities)
* public health workers (all Rural Health Units and City Health Office personnel, Provincial Health Office and local government unit contact tracers)
* Barangay Health Workers including Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams
An LCE can only be eligible for vaccination if he/she is a healthcare worker or a medical frontliner, Ingeniero added.
While the DILG recognizes the role of LCEs in the fight against COVID-19, these officials should follow protocols, considering that the vaccines currently being used are just donations to the Philippine government, the director said.
He went on: “As to their intentions to dispel the negative perceptions of vaccination, we encourage them to work with healthcare workers who could provide a sound perspective without prejudice to the prioritization program.”
HOSPITAL DEFENDS YAP
Mayor Yap’s COVID-19 vaccination has indeed encouraged healthcare workers of the Vicente Gustilo District Hospital (VGDH) in Escalante City, Negros Occidental to be inoculated, too.
This was asserted by Dr. Vermont Juvahib, head of the VGDH’s Hospital Management Team.
Juvahib said it was on March 18 when they received some 150 doses of the China-based CoronaVac vaccine.
They were given explicit orders to distribute the vaccines to their medical frontliners within three days only. On the initial round-up, 33 medical personnel signified their willingness to be vaccinated the next day (March 19), and another 12 on March 21.
The hospital chief said they weren’t able to conduct inoculation on March 20 due to a scheduled power interruption.
On the morning of March 19, however, several personnel begged off. The management was prompted to report the issue to Yap, who subsequently decided to get vaccinated so as “to boost the confidence” of the hospital workers.
After the city mayor got his anti-coronavirus jab, the health workers decided to be vaccinated, too.
“He really did not have any bad intention when he volunteered to be vaccinated,” the hospital chief added.
Yap, the second local chief executive to be vaccinated in Western Visayas, said he was ready to go to jail if he committed any wrongdoing./PN
