Cebu City holds vaccine rollout simulation exercise

CEBU, Philippines — As part of the Cebu City government’s preparation for the actual vaccine rollout, a simulation exercise was held yesterday at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish-Don Bosco Youth Center in Barangay Punta Princesa, of the designated vaccination sites in the city.

Mayor Edgardo Labella led the simulation. He was joined by Vice Mayor Michael Rama and City Health officer-in-charge Jeffrey Ibones. The mayor said the exercise serves as preparation for the actual vaccination in the city so that the public would already have an idea of the system.

“Importante ang simulation aron mahan-ay nato ang proseso sa pagpabakuna sa publiko. Kinahanglan sab natong ma-identify kon aduna ba’y dapat i-adjust sa vaccination steps aron dili na kita magkaproblema inig implement niini,” said Labella.

Labella said at least 10,000 healthcare workers have been inoculated so far in the city. He said they are doing their best to inoculate 70 percent of the total population of the city.

“Taas-taas pa ni’g lakaw, taas-taas pa ni’g panahon nga gikinahanglan. Atong i-achieve ang ideal nga 70 percent,” said Labella.

He encouraged the Cebuanos to get vaccinated once the city is done with the health workers.

The mayor said he is willing to get vaccinated first to set an example and to improve the public’s trust.

“Ang tanang butang sa kinabuhi adunay risgo, bisan gani og mag-drive ra ta og sakyanan. Mas dako man gyud og risgo ang COVID-19 kaysa risgo sa bakuna. Mao nga ato kining pahimuslan to build immunity,” he said.

For his part, Rama said they will make adjustments based on their observation during the conduct of the simulation exercise.

“We (will) discuss more or less on how to improve, what would be the final setup... The steps are all complete, but we still have to discuss,” said Rama.

Rama said what they see as among the challenges during the actual rollout is how to convince the people to have themselves vaccinated.

Just like Labella, he also expressed willingness to be inoculated ahead of the others to set an example. —FPL  (FREEMAN)