Over 800 Quezon City vendors, commuters vaccinated

MANILA, Philippines — The Quezon City government has vaccinated more than 800 vendors and commuters three days into the implementation of the “no vaccination, no ride” policy of the Department of Transportation (DOTr).

According to Mayor Joy Belmonte, 234 ambulant vendors, market vendors and employees received a first dose of COVID-19 vaccines after the city government offered a P2,000 incentive to compensate for lost income.

The local government has identified over 1,300 vendors qualified for the program, which will run until the end of the month.

“We understand that most vendors cannot take a day off due to loss of income that would put food on the table. So we decided to provide them with an incentive to encourage them to get vaccinated,” Belmonte said.

The city’s law enforcement cluster assisted 570 unvaccinated commuters this week.

They were brought to the inoculation facility at the Quezon Memorial Circle to receive their first dose of COVID-19 vaccines after they failed to show proof of vaccination.

The local government reiterated that unvaccinated people who need to acquire essential goods or services and those who have medical conditions that prevent them from getting vaccinated are exempted from the policy.

“Our operations will continue along major thoroughfares in the city such as Commonwealth Avenue to enforce the ‘no vax, no ride’ policy of the DOTr,” Task Force Disiplina action officer Deck Pelembergo said. “We urge commuters to get vaccinated.”

Contact tracers

Meanwhile, the Quezon City government has employed more contact tracers to help manage the surge of COVID-19 cases caused by the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

Belmonte said the Public Emergency and Services Office hired 350 contact tracers.

“The additional contact tracers were part of our contact tracing team last year under a contract with the Department of the Interior and Local Government,” the mayor said.

“Since we still need their services, we hired them under our emergency employment program,” Belmonte added.

City hall said the services of 360 contact tracers from the Department of Labor and Employment were renewed from Jan. 17 to Feb. 19.