More people get vaccinated with walk-in rather than scheduled system —Navotas mayor

Navotas City Mayor Toby Tiangco on Saturday said the COVID-19 vaccination sites that are open for walk-in recipients are accommodating more people compared to those sites with scheduled recipients.

At the Laging Handa Handa briefing, Tiangco pointed out that the city should continue the walk-in policy in vaccination sites to inoculate more residents against COVID-19.

"Ever since April pumapayag na po tayo ng walk in except sa Pfizer (Ever since April, we are allowing walk-in vaccination except for Pfizer)," he said.

Tiangco said residents can choose the brand of vaccine they will get, the vaccination site they will go to, and the schedule of vaccination, which the city government posts on social media.

For Tiangco, walk-in vaccination gives equal opportunity to the public to get inoculated considering that not all Filipinos have access to technology for the scheduling of their shots.

On Wednesday, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) welcomed the use of the walk-in policy for COVID-19 vaccination at some local government units, but said minimum public health standards should be observed.

In Manila, the city’s public information office said only 4,402 individuals got vaccinated prior to allowing walk-ins on June 21.

When Mayor Isko Moreno allowed walk-ins to get a jab, by 4:30 p.m. on June 21, an additional 7,347 people got vaccinated. This brought the total number of people who got their jabs that day to 11,749.

The government is eyeing to inoculate this year 58 million people or 70% of the population in Metro Manila, its adjacent provinces, Metro Cebu and Metro Davao combined, to achieve herd immunity, given that these areas are densely populated and are economic centers. —KG, GMA News