Over 500K vaccine doses administered in Quezon City

MANILA, Philippines — The Quezon City government has administered more than half a million doses of vaccines against COVID-19.

Latest data showed that a total of 540,850 vaccines have been administered in the city, including 414,850 first doses and 126,000 second doses.

The number of those inoculated with the first dose represents 24.4 percent of the 1.7-million vaccinated individuals projected to achieve population protection in the city.

On Thursday, the city government said it was able to administer 27,000 doses in one day, a single-day record high since the vaccination program started in March.

Mayor Joy Belmonte lauded the city’s medical frontliners and volunteers for the speedy process in the vaccination sites.

On average, she said a patient can go through the whole process – from registration on site to post-vaccination – in less than an hour.

“We are listening to our people. From the first rollout in March, we are continuously developing ways to improve the processes based on their suggestions. Feedback is important in this program since it is our people who are directly involved in the process,” she said.

“Our goal is to vaccinate individuals and open more sites as soon as possible as long as we have a steady supply of vaccines. With less time spent in the vaccination sites, we can accommodate more individuals while still practicing minimum health protocols,” added the mayor.

Joseph Juico, co-chair of the city’s task force on vaccination, said they streamlined the vaccination processes to accommodate more people.

“For members of the A4 priority group, taking of blood pressure is now optional considering that they are neither seniors nor have comorbidities and are able-bodied or individuals who are physically strong and healthy,” he added.

Downward trend

The number of new COVID-19 cases in the city continued to decrease in the past week, the OCTA Research Group said.

From an average of around 1,000 new cases per day during the peak of the surge in March, Quezon City now only records an average of 167 new cases per day, OCTA said in a report submitted to Belmonte.

The city’s average daily attack rate (ADAR) also fell to 5.3 infections per 100,000 population from as high as 37.58 in early April.

Quezon City, which is now considered as moderate risk, is among the local government units in Metro Manila with the lowest ADAR, OCTA said.

Belmonte attributed the development to the continuous testing and isolation of the city health department amid the rollout of the citywide vaccination program.

“While our vaccination program is in full swing, the city health department and the city epidemiology and disease surveillance unit are still focused on providing free swab testing to all who are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, have close contact with positive patients and others who are in lockdown areas,” she said.