DILG cites 3 cities for COVID-19 vaccination

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) lauded three cities in the National Capital Region (NCR) for having the most number of COVID-19 vaccines administered to their constituents.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, during President Duterte’s pre-recorded address on Monday night, said Quezon City has so far administered at least 414,850 jabs, the highest so far in the NCR.

The city government under the leadership of Mayor Joy Belmonte registered its highest single-day record of 37,234 doses yesterday.

The other two are Manila with 326,101 and Caloocan with 238,768, Año said.

He also lauded the city government of Parañaque after 79,111 of residents and workers already got their second dose.

“Ito po ang pagsusumikap nilang makapag-administer ng pinakamaraming first and second dose ng COVID vaccines sa kanilang mga nasasakupan (This is from their efforts to administer the most number of first and second doses of COVID vaccines to their constituents),” Año said.

In areas outside the NCR, Año said Baguio ranked first with 99,745 jabs administered followed by Cebu City with 55,214 and Cagayan de Oro City, 43,462.

Año said at least 32.27 million have registered in their respective local government units (LGU) s’ vaccination programs.

He urged people who have yet to receive jabs to register with their LGUs, stressing that getting vaccinated is the best defense against COVID-19.

“Panawagan naman natin sa ating mga LGUs, hanapan po natin ng paraan at pag-isipan natin ang iba’t-ibang stratehiya upang mas marami pa ang maenganyong magpabakuna (We are calling on the LGUs to look for ways and think of strategies to convince more people to have themselves vaccinated),” Año said.

QC sets new record

Quezon City officials said 37,234 people were inoculated in 41 sites across the city yesterday alone, significantly higher than the previous record of 27,000 individuals inoculated for three consecutive days last week.

“This is a big step in a ladder that we are climbing. With continued collective efforts from the city government, private sector and other partners, we will soon achieve protection for most of our citizens,” Belmonte said.

Latest data showed that 646,043 vaccines have already been administered in the city since March, including 495,490 first doses and 150,553 second doses.

The number of those who received their first dose represents almost 30 percent of the 1.7 million target to achieve population protection in the city.

Joseph Juico, co-chair of the city’s vaccination task force, said the city government is confident that population protection can be achieved within the year as long as vaccine supply is stable.

“The achievement of more than 37,000 is proof that we can do so much as long as we have a large supply of vaccines. We are sure that once supply becomes consistent, we can do so much more in a day,” Juico said.

The city government has opened more vaccine sites over the past week following the delivery of vaccines from the national government.

Additional slots for online booking will be opened once new deliveries arrive, it said.