Drive-through vaccination center for Manila tricycle drivers to open next week

A drive-through vaccination site for Manila City public utility drivers would be put up next week, according to Vice President Leni Robredo.

During her weekly radio talk show BISErbiyong Leni on Sunday, Robredo said the vaccination site will cater mainly to tricycle operators and drivers associations (TODAs) but is also open to drivers of transport network vehicle services.

The site is targeted to start operations next Sunday, June 20, if the vaccines arrive as scheduled on Thursday, June 17. The doses were originally scheduled to arrive Wednesday, June 15, but were delayed.

"Kabahagi nito iyong ano — iyong lahat ng TODA sa City of Manila. Ang alam ko ang Grab drivers na nag-o-operate sa Manila ganoon din. So mag-inquire na lang po sa Manila City Hall. Pero tuloy-tuloy na po ngayon ang registration," Robredo said.

"Ano ito, drive though, so hindi sila bababa sa kanilang mga sasakyan. Inaayos lang po natin para as may ang ma-cover natin as possible."

(This covers all the TODAs in the City of Manila. What I know is Grab drivers operating in Manila are also included. Inquiries can be forward to the Manila City Hall, and registration is ongoing.

This is drive drive-through, so they do not need to leave their vehicles. We are just finalizing the details to cover as many as possible.)

The government kicked off the COVID-19 vaccination of the A4 category or economic frontliners last week. The category covers some 35 million workers.

Robredo said the program will be in partnership with volunteer doctors and nurses, whom she thanked for enlisting.

Based on data from the health department, Manila City has recorded a total of 65,629 COVID-19 cases as of June 12, of which 1,201 are active; 63,232 are tagged as recoveries; and 1,196 deaths.

The Philippines on Sunday reported 7,302 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 to bring the total to 1,315,639. This includes 59,685 active cases; 1,232,986 recoveries; and 22,788 deaths. — DVM, GMA News