Negros Oriental will need a total of 4,254 people to compose 709 teams with six members each for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccination program in the province.

Speaking during Tuesday’s Kapihan sa PIA forum and virtual presser, Assistant Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Liland Estacion, the teams will be deployed in the local government units once the vaccine program has been rolled out.

Estacion, who is also health committee chair of the province’s Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), said these teams will undergo training for the administration of the vaccines, on top of other functions required of them during the vaccination program.

Each team will need one doctor to supervise the administration of vaccines. Estacion said they expect to accommodate around 100 individuals per day.

The Integrated Provincial Health Office is still awaiting the arrival of the vaccines, although Estacion said they still do not have an idea as to how many would be sent over to Negros Oriental and which brands would be available first.

She added that they are still in the process of profiling front-liners who will be prioritized for the inoculation program, while also awaiting a copy of the master lists from the different LGUs in the province.

Also included in the priority list, apart from the medical and health personnel, are police front-liners manning provincial border checkpoints, she added.

Estacion said they will have to clarify with the national government whether the province will receive the vaccines for free so that the amount that Gov. Roel Degamo and LGUs earlier pledged can be used instead to hire the required personnel for the vaccination teams.

She said she will raise the matter to Palace spokesperson Harry Roque, who is set to visit Negros Oriental on Thursday. (PNA)