San Juan converts Greenhills Mall cinemas into COVID-19 vaccination site

The San Juan government on Tuesday said two cinemas in the popular Greenhills Mall have been converted into the city's second COVID-19 vaccination site.

In a statement, the local government said it teamed up with the Greenhills Mall and the Music Museum Group to convert Theatre Mall Cinemas 1 and 2 into vaccination sites that can accommodate up to 1,500 vaccine recipients per day.

This will augment the capacity of the FilOil Flying V Centre, which can handle 2,000 vaccine recipients daily.

“Ito’y ginagawa natin bilang paghahanda sa pagdagsa ng registration mula A4… Ito ay napakalawak na kategorya ng mga mamamayan kung kaya’t minabuti nating maghanda ng ikalawang location bilang vaccination site,” Mayor Francis Zamora said.

(We did this in preparation for the influx of A4 registrants… This is a really big category that’s why we decided to open a second vaccination site.)

Frontline workers in essential sectors belong to the A4 priority group for COVID-19 vaccination. 

The Theatre Mall cinemas will cater to A4 non-residents while the FilOil Flying V Centre will be used to vaccinate San Juan residents who belong to the A4 sector as well as resident health workers, senior citizens, and persons with comorbidities.

San Juan has so far vaccinated 28,200 residents or 33% of its target population.

Zamora also issued two executive orders encouraging San Juan-based businesses to get their employees vaccinated and provide incentives for inoculated customers.

“We are resorting to these mechanisms to protect the population,” Zamora said. “This will soon make all the establishments in San Juan safe and free from COVID-19.” — Julia Mari Ornedo/BM, GMA News