Cebu City deploys protocol marshals at vax sites

CEBU, Philippines —   So-called “protocol marshals” will be deployed at Cebu City’s vaccination sites starting today, July 5, to prevent the vaccination from becoming a “spreader event,” especially in light of the rising COVID-19 cases in the city.

“Starting tomorrow (today), Task Force Kasaligan will deploy its personnel in all vaccination centers as protocol marshals,” said Cebu City Councilor David Tumulak, one of the leaders in the city’s vaccination drive.

Tumulak also appealed for the public’s cooperation by showing up at the vaccination site at their scheduled time to discourage crowding.

“We need the support and understanding sa public for the safety sa ato vaccinees…to limit vaccines per site according to schedule to observe physical distancing and for the safety sa ato mga medical volunteer sa vaccination centers,” he said.

Cebu City has 892 active cases, according to the data from the Department of Health-7. But the Emergency Operations Center’s monitoring showed that the city now has only 688 active cases, including 87 new ones.

The reason for the disparity is because some of Cebu City’s recoveries are still subject for validation by the DOH-7.

Cebu City’s positivity rate also remains higher than the WHO threshold of 5%. The last rate it posted was 6.21%, after 87 of the 1,401 tested turned out to be positive.

Critical care occupancy rate in the city’s 13 facilities has also increased to 28.8%.

In the public hospitals alone, the CCOR is now at 42.4% or 106 of the 144 COVID-19 beds occupied. In private hospitals, the occupancy rate is 22.7% or 128 of the 435 COVID-19 beds occupied.

Some 196 patients are housed at barangay isolation centers while 51 others are at the Cebu City Quarantine Center. The rest are in hotels.

So far, three deaths have been recorded in Cebu City in July.

Balamban schedule

Meanwhile, in Balamban town, Cebu, vaccination will take place only in the morning as healthcare workers are set to attend the launch of the municipality’s Nutrition Month celebration.

The regular vaccination schedule -- from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. -- will resume in the following days, so long as there is supply.

In a Facebook post, the municipal government announced that there are 730 vaccine doses available at this point: 171 for the first dose and 559 for the second dose.

The vaccination sites in Balamban are located at Gaisano Town Center in Lacdon and Gaisano Grand Mall in Pondol.

As of June 22, there were already 3,884 persons in Balamban have received COVID-19 shots: 2,877 got the first dose and 1,007 got the first and second doses. — Dheif Daniel Yunting, USC Comm Intern, JMD (FREEMAN)