3-day COVID-19 vaccination drive ready to roll out despite lack of volunteers –NTF

The government is ready to kick off the 3-day national vaccination drive on Monday despite lacking 51,000 more volunteers, the National Task Force Against COVID-19 (NTF) said on Sunday.

“Maayos na ho ang ating paghahanda, nakalatag na rin at ready to roll out na sa Lunes. May kaunti lang pong pag-aadjust,” NTF spokesperson Restituto Padilla Jr. said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.

(The preparations are going well and we're ready for the rollout by Monday. There are just a few adjustments.)

Padilla however emphasized that the country still needs more volunteers to man over 6,000 active vaccination sites and the possible 5,000 smaller sites that may be added.

“We took the notice of about 51,000 volunteers na kakailanganin pa. Kailangan pa po. Galing po ito sa Department of Health (DOH) ‘no, sa kanilang pakikipag-ugnayan sa ating mga health workers at saka frontliners. So meron na po tayong mga almost 18,000 na mga volunteers na nakumpirma na natin,” he said, noting that several government agencies have already committed their personnel to help in this initiative.

(We took the notice that we needed another 51,000 volunteers. This is from the Department of Health, based on their discussions with health workers and frontliners. So we have about 18,000 volunteers who have confirmed their participation.)

The DOH earlier said that they need around 160,000 volunteers for the vaccination drive which includes health screeners, post-vaccination monitoring personnel, health educators, registration personnel, data consolidators, encoders, and vaccinators themselves.

As part of the solution, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary and spokesman Jonathan Malaya said that DILG Secretary Eduardo Año tasked local government units (LGUs) to use the contact tracers to help—those with medical backgrounds could vaccinate while the non-medical personnel will be assigned to data management.

The NTF on Friday adjusted their target vaccination output for the three-day vaccination drive, dubbed “Bayanihan, Bakunahan,” from 15 million to 9 million due to a shortage in ancillary supplies, particularly syringes.

Instead, there will be another national vaccination drive on December 15 to 17 to help reach the government target of fully vaccinating 54 million Filipinos by the end of the year.

Padilla said that this drive included vaccination for minors aged 12-17, the unvaccinated, as well as the boosters shots for health workers, senior citizens, and persons with comorbidities.

To encourage more people to get vaccinated during the drive, Padilla said they were coordinating with various LGUs to implement “creative ways,” such as offering them food while in line, giving incentives, and personally bringing the vaccines to the senior citizens at home so they need not go out.

Padilla further reminded parents to bring the required documents for their children to get inoculated, such as an ID or birth certificate, consent form, or clearance from a pediatrician if available. On the other hand, those who are fully vaccinated need to bring their vaccination card provided by their respective LGUs.

“‘Yan po ay magiging mahalaga na magiging batayan kung anong klaseng bakuna ang ibibigay sa inyo at kung tamang pumasok na kayo sa anim na buwan na nakalipas na panahon para safe sa inyo sa booster shot,” Padilla said.

(This would determine what kind of vaccine will be provided to you, as well as to check if you've completed the 6-month requirement for you to take the booster shot.)

Malaya emphasized that Eleksyon 2022 candidates are not allowed to politicize the vaccination drive, noting that they may be held liable once proven they are using this initiative for their political agenda.

“This is a non-partisan activity at mahigpit po ang paalala ng DILG na non-partisan po ito so ‘wag gagawin ito for partisan political purposes, otherwise baka mag-issue kami ng show cause order laban sa kanila at sampahan sila ng kaukulang kaso for violating minimum public health standards,” he said.

(The DILG strongly reminds everyone that this is a non-partisan activity so don’t use it for partisan political purposes. Otherwise, we may issue a show cause order and file a case against you for violating minimum public health standards.)

— DVM, GMA News