Quezon City launches ‘Bakuna Nights’ for workers

MANILA, Philippines — The Quezon City government on Wednesday launched a night vaccination program catering to workers who do not have time to visit inoculation sites during work hours.

Dubbed “QC Bakuna Nights,” the initiative aims to expand the vaccination drive by opening slots for workers with free time only in the evening.

“We are doing this for workers, especially those who are paid on a daily basis and cannot take a leave from work to get vaccinated from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.,” Mayor Joy Belmonte said. “We will inoculate them at a time most convenient to them.”

A total of 1,171 workers were inoculated during the first day of the initiative at the city hall grounds, which opened at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

The program will run until Saturday, with plans of extending it to other vaccination sites in the city.

Due to limited supply of COVID vaccines, walk-ins are not allowed. Workers have to be pre-registered with the mayor’s office or the city’s vaccination task force.

The city government has resumed the operation of the mega vaccination site at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The site will accommodate essential workers or those belonging to the A4 category until Sunday.

“As the public sector expands its vaccination coverage, we are happy to continue assisting them in the fight against the pandemic,” Diane Romero, executive director of the J. Amado Araneta Foundation, said.

The Araneta Group has allowed the local government to use the coliseum for free to speed up the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.

Up to 3,000 COVID vaccines per day were delivered during the initial round of inoculation at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Data showed that 453,183 vaccines have been administered by the city government.

Meanwhile, the Valenzuela government also opened night vaccination for economic frontliners.

This will enable essential workers to get vaccinated after office hours without going on leave, Mayor Rex Gatchalian said. – Marc Jayson Cayabyab