Thousands get Covid jabs in Zambo

THOUSANDS OF senior citizens and people with comorbidity (those with more than one disease or condition at the same time) have been inoculated against the deadly Covid-19 respiratory disease in Zamboanga City as the local government continues its vaccination program despite the lack of supply of the medicine needed to prevent the further spread of the virus.

People wait to be inoculated with Covid-19 vaccine at the Barangay Santa Catalina Health Center in Zamboanga City. (Zamboanga Post)

Mayor Beng Climaco speaks to an elderly woman during one of her visits at various vaccinations sites.

Mayor Beng Climaco, head of the local task force Covid-19, has repeatedly urged residents - especially the elderly sector and those with comorbidity - to register online. “Residents who are 18-years old and above are encouraged to register for vaccination online by following this URL: www.zambocovax.com or by visiting the nearest health center,” she said.

Health workers, Climaco added, are also conducting house-to-house visits in different barangays to get the names of those who want to be vaccinated and include them in the vaccination master list. But since the number of health workers are limited and due to the high risk of Covid-19 infections, online registration is the best option.

Climaco has been visiting various vaccination sites and encouraging citizens to avail of the free inoculation. She said residents must get themselves inoculated as soon as the vaccines are available as an added protection and to help reduce virus transmission and deaths, and ultimately help restore the economy. “Este vaccines para de ustedes contra Covid. No mas tiene miedo porcausa este buen para de atun todo,” she said.

The mayor, who already signed a $2 million (or roughly P100 million) deal with the British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca,  said local government’s vaccination program will cover 694,696 residents or 70% of the projected 2021 population of 992,423 inhabitants. 

The initial P200 million for the purchase of the vaccines are included in the P4.38-billion 2021 Executive Budget of the local government, according to Climaco, who is also a member of the Committee on Vaccine Availment of the League of Cities of the Philippines.

Climaco said the local government will allocate P100 million more for additional Covid vaccines.

The City Health Office and representatives from the World Health Organization (WHO) continue to monitor the vaccination program in different inoculation sites here.  Based on the latest data, nearly 17,000 people from priority groups A1 (Medical frontliners), A2 (Senior citizens) and A3 (People with comorbidity) had been inoculated.

According to Covid-19 vaccine data, some 2.92 million of doses had been given out in the Philippines with 676,000 people fully vaccinated which are just 0.6 percent of the total populations in the country.

Despite the lack of vaccine supplies, President Rodrigo Duterte said the government is excellent on its mass inoculation program. Duterte said he is even prepared to invoke the police power of the state to effectively respond to the pandemic, allaying fears that government is running out of interventions in the present health crisis.

“Kapag sinabi na we are at a critical condition, there is no space for the doctors and the nurses to move and stay healthy, then we begin to exercise the police power of the state. When we are pushed to the wall, either by the microbe itself or by external, internal, I can always order the military and the police to go there and confiscate the operation of the hotels. So kayong mga kababayan ko, huwag kayong matakot diyan sa ano. Hindi naman tayo talagang walang-wala eh. We are not really at a total loss of what to do. We know what to do,” Duterte said.

But he was quick to say that he will only invoke such power to control private facilities once the country’s healthcare system is at maximum capacity. Duterte said that his administration is doing all it can to come up with interventions that mitigate, rather than aggravate, the medical and socio-economic impact of the pandemic.

Duterte admitted that the only hope to fully recover from Covid-19 lies solely on massive vaccination program, noting, however, that the country has to compete with other nations in securing sufficient supply considering the current global vaccine shortage.

“Do not be afraid. Government is working. Government is busy doing everything, not nothing. Government is trying to get the things to fix all of us. Iyong mga bagay ngayon nandiyan pero wala sa ating mga kamay. Nandiyan ang bakuna, hindi sa ating kamay. Sa kamay ng ibang tao. And this will go I think before it gets better, we’ll have to go to the worst of times,” he said. (Zamboanga Post)

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