Quezon City, Philippines – The Department of Interior and Local Government on Monday, May 17, 2021, instructed Local government units in the Philippines to increase their vaccination capacity as the government is pushing the plan to continue with the vaccination next month.
“Patuloy ang pagdating ng mga vaccines sa bansa at kasabay nito ang pag-asang maging protektado at ligtas ang ating mga kababayan mula sa virus. I am therefore calling on our LGUs to increase their capacity for vaccination so that we can administer 3 to 4 million jabs a month starting this June,” DILG Secretary Eduardo M. Año said in the agency’s press release.
According to Año, they shall apportion more vaccines in the National Capital Region, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, Cavite, Batangas, Pampanga, Cebu, Davao, and other areas in the country having high number of active cases for control of the virus’ escalation and adherence to the “center of gravity” principle.
He informed that 1.5 million AstraZeneca vaccines have already reached LGUs in the country following the speculation that the government could not afford to administer said vaccines as these are set to expire by the end of June.
"The 1.5 million AstraZeneca vaccines have already been deployed to various LGUs nationwide. 1 million of these will be taken as the first dose while some 525,600 doses have also been reserved for the second dose," he said.
Meantime, DILG Undersecretary and Spokesperson Jonathan Malaya suggested that LGUs could prepare through micro planning and simulations.
LGUs, he said, should identify more vaccination sites, available local cold-chain storage facilities, and transportation mechanisms.
“Possible vaccination sites to be utilized for inoculation include infirmaries (private and public), Rural Health Units, health facilities of other government agencies, private clinics, schools, barangay halls, and other open-air establishments,” the agency stated.
Additionally, Malaya said LGUs should make sure that they will assign enough personnel to conduct the vaccination.
According to him, LGUs may tap the help of other professionals including teachers, counsellors, pharmacists, medical and allied health professionals and interns; and the private sector to augment their vaccination workforce.
“LGUs must also develop a firm workflow for particular vaccine requirements from storage to transport and administration,” Malaya added.
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