Cebu City eyes nighttime vaccination for workers

CEBU, Philippines —  The Cebu City Council has requested the city’s Vaccination Board to study the feasibility of having night shift vaccinations to cater to those from A4 priority group who cannot leave their posts during business hours.

A4 consists of the workers from the essential economic sectors. They include delivery riders, reporters, government employees, fastfood crew members, as well as self-employed individuals who work outside their homes.

In a resolution sponsored by Councilor Alvin Dizon and approved by the council Wednesday, it was explained that the expansion of vaccination time aims to address time constraint on the part of the workers who may need to be absent, sacrifice a day’s worth of salary or postpone vaccine schedule due to conflict in duty hours.

“Day job should not be a health barrier, and one way of gaining the public's trust to the city's vaccination program is by seeing them through the entire vaccination process in which accessibility and convenience are important components,” Dizon said.

He also cited the cities of Quezon and Valenzuela whose implementation of nighttime vaccination started last month, drawing praise from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

Dr. Jeffrey Ibones, City Health officer-in-charge, announced that the city has already administered a total of 135,607 vaccine doses, of which 36,464 were second doses and 99,143 were first doses.

He said walk-in vaccinees are discouraged as registration is easily available online through pabakunata.com, which has already accumulated more than 300,000 registrations.

During their schedule, vaccine recipients are reminded to bring their own ballpen, I.D and certificate of employment for the workers.

As of Thursday, only the vaccination site located at University of Cebu (UC) Alcantara campus was open due to low vaccine supply. In Cebu, it is the sole vaccination site with freezer and is currently storing 2,500 vials (5,000 doses) of a brand of COVID-19 vaccine that arrived yesterday.

Last call from PBB

Meanwhile, organizers of the Project Balik Buhay vaccination initiative announced that all company and organization applications received on or before July 31, 2021 will be accommodated in the final batch of vaccination applications.

This developed as vaccine supply from the national government continues to increase and with the local government units’ commitment to facilitate a swift and efficient vaccination rollout.

According to PBB, any application received from August 1, 2021 onward will be referred to the respective LGUs.

PBB added that a total of 520,014 vaccine doses have been administered across all public and private sector vaccination centers in Cebu as of July 14, 2021.

Meanwhile, the Mandaue Vaccination Board said that based on its survey, many Mandauehanons are still undecided about getting their vaccine shots.

This is the reason why the board has partnered with barangay leaders in the conduct of an information education drive to explain the need for vaccines and to dispel wrong information.

The board said that a focused group discussion is also done to give participants the opportunity to ask questions about COVID-19 and its vaccines.

No need to fear

In a related development, DOH-7 chief pathologist Dr. Mary Jean Loreche allayed concerns about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which has allegedly caused rare neurological disorder called the Guillain-Barre Syndrome, to some vaccinated individuals in the US.

A delivery of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is set to arrive in the coming weeks.

“Huwag po tayong matakot magpabakuna dahil Johnson & Johnson,” Loreche said.

Loreche added that a person can also get GBS six weeks after being exposed to the virus but she said that a patient can recover from this disorder.

Note to travelers

Meanwhile, fully vaccinated outbound international travelers who are required by the country of destination or employer to have an International Vaccination Card or Prophylaxis as proof of COVID-19 vaccination can access the Bureau of Quarantine’s official website for appointments.

To those who have been issued with the previous ICV version, the BOQ said they remain valid; thus, reissuance is not necessary.

However, those outbound travelers who wish to have their previous ICV converted to new format can do so for a fee of P300 plus convenience fee of P70.

The BOQ will issue a new ICV if the following requirements are presented: any valid government ID, passport, vaccination card, or LGU vaccination certificate.

The BOQ suggests booking an online appointment or walk-ins, if necessary.

As it stands, travels from Indonesia India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, UAE, and Oman are restricted to enter the country from July 16 until July 31, 2021. — with Caecent N. Magsumbol, Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon, and Sly Anthonette E. Baseo and Jomelou Q. Menorias, CNU Comm Interns, Dianah Rule Salinguhay, CNU Comm Intern, JMD (FREEMAN)