Filtered By: Topstories
News

DOH: No more vital signs screening before COVID-19 vaccination


The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday said vital signs screening will no longer be included in the COVID-19 vaccination process as part of a bid to speed up the rollout.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said DOH advisors and immunization experts approved the recommendation of the Philippine Society of Hypertension and the Philippine Heart Association to scrap the vital signs screening.

Under the new guidelines, health workers will only need to closely monitor people with established hypertension or organ damage prior to vaccination.

“Naglagay din tayo diyan sa guidelines natin that there should be a separate lane para dito sa mga taong gusto nating obserbahan because of their established history ng kanilang mga sakit para hindi sila nakakadagdag do’n sa pila,” Vergeire said in a briefing.

(We also included in the guidelines that there should be a separate lane for individuals who need to be observed because of their established history of illness so they won’t hold up the line.)

Vaccine confidence

Vergeire said a DOH study found that long queues were being caused by vital signs screening and people walking into vaccination centers.

“Marami sa ating kababayan, very eager sila magpabakuna na kahit hindi sila ‘yung scheduled for that day, they go to the vaccination sites,” she explained.

(A lot of people are so eager to get vaccinated that they go to vaccination sites even if they’re not scheduled for that day.)

Vergeire said public confidence in COVID-19 vaccines has increased, citing a DOH survey conducted on March 19 to 30. The agency has yet to release the complete details of its poll.

She reported that 75% of respondents said they would get inoculated if a vaccine was available and 85.5% said they would get a jab if they knew that vaccines were safe and effective. Prior to the start of the vaccination campaign, the same figures stood at 60%.

“Nakita po natin ‘yung pagtaas talaga ng kumpiyansa ng ating mga kababayan no’ng nakita nilang marami na ring nababakunahan,” Vergeire said.

(We saw the increase in public confidence in vaccines when they saw that many other people were getting inoculated.)

The Philippines has vaccinated over 2 million people as of May 11, still far from its target of inoculating 50 million to 70 million people this year. —AOL, GMA News

LOADING CONTENT