Cebu City resumes vaccination, appeals for more jabs
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CEBU, Philippines — Cebu City is set to resume its COVID-19 vaccination today, July 1, 2021, after receiving additional 5,000 vaccine doses yesterday.
Councilor David Tumulak said the city’s five sites— University of Cebu-Banilad, UC in J. Alcantara Street, Robinsons Galleria, SM Seaside, and the NOAH Complex will be opened.
To recall, the city government suspended its vaccination temporarily for almost a week due to shortage of vaccine supply.
City Health officer-in-charge Jeffrey Ibones reiterated his appeal to the Department of Health-7 for more vaccine allocation.
“Kanang 5,000, mahurot ra gyud na nato’g duha ka adlaw. Pwede gani na’g usa ka adlaw,” he said.
Ibones said they will allocate 500 more vaccines for the mountain barangay of Cambinocot.
“Manghinaot lang ta sa atong mga kaigsuonan nga motabang og ampo nga unta matigaan ta og daghan nga mga bakuna para atoang mapakita sa national kung unsa kaepektibo ug unsa kapaspas mobakuna ang atoang dakbayan,” he said.
He said this challenge on vaccine shortage is also experienced by other local government units.
“Kani, dili man sad ni ingon nga ilang (DOH) sala. Tungod gyud ni sa supply sa atong bakuna. Dili lang gyud ni sa Cebu City but I think sa uban pa tingali nga cities and provinces. Nagkulang pud sila. Nakadungog ta sa Iloilo, sa Mindanao, nakaingon gani ta nga mas swerte ta diri sa Sugbo nga bisan tuod og gamay, naa tay nadawat pero bisan ana, ato lang gihapo’ng ipadayag nga kuwang gyud ang nadawat nato nga bakuna,” Ibones said.
Acting Mayor Michael Rama echoed Ibones’ sentiments and asked the national government to separate the allocation for Project Balik Buhay (PBB).
“Sana yung Project Balik Buhay i-separate yun sa Cebu City LGU kasi ang nangyari sa amin, we are preparing for 21 vaccination sites,” Rama said in an interview with PTV.
PBB is a public-private partnership initiated by the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas, Inter-Agency Task Force-Visayas, and Department of Health (DOH)-7 to help and fasttrack the government’s national vaccination program.
PBB caters to organizations that register and vaccinations are being done parallel to the vaccinations at the local government units.
There are 14 PBB vaccination sites in Metro Cebu.
“When we have enough vaccines, and we are capable of doing it, our vaccination site can do 1,000 vaccinations a day,” Rama said.
The city government has opened a Vaccination Registration Assistance Desk at the Plaza Sugbo in front of City Hall to help residents who want to get inoculated but do not know how to register online.
“Kay nakita man gud nato nga daghan kaayong mga kaigsuonan nato nga wala gyud sila makapa-register gyud. Wa sila maka-online tungod kay di sila kamao, wa sad silay internet connection,” Ibones said.
At least 97,000 residents have been vaccinated in Cebu City. At least 270,000 have registered online.
Response to rise in cases
Meanwhile, Rama said in the PTV interview that Cebu City has a “very clear” intervention to the recent rise of new cases.
He said the city’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is focused on contract tracing, treatment, and isolation – the same method it has been employing that allowed it to track down the construction workers that tested positive for COVID-19.
“With this new development, I am pretty sure that they will definitely go down to the sitio level. Go, and even visit, so that they can go into tracing, then extraction… after that, of course, they will be in an isolation (facility). There will be a very clear health intervention, which is the treatment,” Rama said.
He said the crucial aspect is preventing community transmission, which is why the public plays a big part in upholding health protocols.
“The people, they should be part of this endeavor,” he said.
“We should not be talking about ‘alarming’ as the word. Challenging, it is challenging… and the challenge belongs to all of us Cebuanos,” Rama said. — Loreine Kyra Lebumfacil. CNU Intern, JMO (FREEMAN)
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