Vax sites open during Holy Week

MANILA, Philippines — Even during Holy Week, vaccination sites for COVID-19 shall remain open, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday.

At a public briefing, Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje, who heads the National Vaccination Operations Center, said DOH regional offices have been instructed to assist in the vaccine rollout during the Lenten holidays.

“We hope they keep hospitals, especially the DOH hospitals, open for vaccination. We also encouraged the local government units (LGUs) to continue to provide the vaccines,” Cabotaje said.

She said the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has agreed to open their parishes for COVID-19 vaccination.

The same goes for other places of worship during Ramadan, such as those beside mosques.

“We do not mandate the LGUs. It has been voluntary on their part to make vaccination sites available in their areas,” Cabotaje said.

Yesterday morning, 50,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccine donated by the Qatari government and another 25,000 doses donated by the Chinese government arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.
Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., the National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar, led officials in welcoming the shipment.

Meanwhile, Sen. Bong Go urged the speeding up of vaccine rollouts in far-reaching areas and for age groups with low turn-out to further improve protection against COVID-19.

Go, chair of the Senate committee on health, stressed how critical faster vaccine rollout is in accelerating the country’s return to normalcy.

He expressed concern over the report that only 34.13 percent in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao have been inoculated against COVID-19 – the lowest among all regions.

Echoing the call of President Duterte, Go urged national and local government officials to ramp up their vaccination efforts. – Rudy Santos, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Janvic Mateo