More people showing interest in getting COVID-19 vaccine

CEBU, Philippines —  The Cebu City Health Office is now close to achieving the required number of population to be inoculated to achieve herd immunity against COVID-19 after more people have expressed interest to participate in the city government’s immunization program.

City Health officer-in-charge Dr. Jeffrey Ibones said they now have 603,360 individuals registered for vaccination in the city through pabakunata.com.

The city needs at least 700,000 of its population to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to achieve herd immunity by the end of the year. Ibones said those who answered yes in the survey provided upon registration in the vaccine information management system will be prioritized for scheduling, provided that they belong to the priority group that the city has started to cater.

At least 228, 210 individuals have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine so far, Ibones said. The city now has 150, 821 fully-vaccinated residents.

Ibones said the city’s seven vaccination sites remain open. These are located at the University of Cebu (UC) in Barangay Banilad; UC Senior High School in J. Alcantara St.; Robinsons Galleria; SM Seaside; Ayala Center Cebu; NOAH Complex; and Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino.

The city is also planning to open more vaccination sites in the coming days.

“In fact, we're planning to open sa SM City. Nag-dry run mi pag Saturday,” said Ibones. Currently, all sites could cater to at least 5,000 individuals in a day.

Earlier, the Cebu City Council requested the Office of the Mayor, through the city’s Vaccination Operations Center, to provide and inform the public on how and where they can verify the status of their online registration for COVID-19 vaccination.

It came after several complaints from the public about the status of their online registration.

Councilor Raul Alcoseba sponsored a resolution requesting to update the public on the status of their registration. Ibones apologized for the delay and assured that they are doing their best to cater all the individuals who have expressed willingness to be vaccinated.

“Ayaw lang mo kabalaka, naningkamot gyud ang City of Cebu, labi na sa Cebu City Health Department ug Vaccination Operations Center nga maserbisyohan gyud nato tanan,” said Ibones.

More Doses

Meanwhile, 308,800 more doses of Sinovac arrived in Cebu over the weekend to augment the vaccine supply for Metro Cebu local government units and the private sector’s Project Balik Buhay.

Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, spokesperson of the Visayas Vaccination Operation Center, said that DOH-7 has so far received a total of 2,741,790 doses of COVID-19 vaccines.

Metro Cebu has a total of 1,774,081 eligible population for vaccination but only 1,612,175 have registered.

Sputnik Light

The country’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has finally granted an emergency use authorization to Gamaleya-Sputnik Light COVID-19 vaccine.

Secretary Carlito Galvez said this is the second single-dose vaccine against COVID-19 that the FDA has authorized for emergency use. The other is Johnson & Johnson. Sputnik Light applied for a separate EUA from Sputnik V, a two-dose vaccine previously authorized by FDA.

Galvez said they are looking at ordering 10 million doses of it. Aside from the Sputnik Light, Galvez is also expecting an increase in vaccine deliveries in the next two months. — Caecent No-ot Magsumbol, and Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon, FPL (FREEMAN)