The city government of Caloocan targets to inoculate at least 60 percent of its population by the end of 2021, Mayor Oca Malapitan said on Monday.

Malapitan said they are now preparing the logistical requirements needed for the city’s vaccination plan to ensure the efficient administration of Covid-19 vaccines.

“By the end of the year, we aim to vaccinate at least 60 percent of our citizen. This will be made possible to our dedicated Covid-19 vaccine deployment task force which has been tasked to formulate our vaccination plans and ensure its implementation,” he said in a press briefing with Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque.

Malapitan said the city government’s local task force on Covid-19 has already identified eligible groups for its vaccine priority list.

“They have been identified as priority groups due to their vulnerability for their occupation as being essential in our fight against Covid-19,” he said.

The city’s “priority eligible group A” of an estimated 336,446 individuals or 19.58 percent of its total population includes healthcare workers from both public and private hospitals, local government units (LGUs)’ contact tracers, and the barangay healthcare workers.

It would be followed by indigent senior citizens, marginalized citizens and uniformed personnel in the city.

The city government has set up around 481 vaccination teams to facilitate the city-wide inoculation program once vaccine supplies become available.

Malapitan said the “priority eligible group B” will be comprised of teachers, social workers, government workers and barangay officials, which are about 780,207 individuals or 45.2 percent of the city’s total population.

“After identifying our priority vaccine recipients, we are now in the midst of preparing our logistic for the vaccination, particularly our human resource, logistic, and supplies,” he added.

More vaccinators for Caloocan

Malapitan said the city has 165 vaccinators as of Feb. 2.

“This estimates to about one vaccinator to 100 citizens per day for seven days,” he said.

He added that the city government is still looking for additional vaccinators to comply with its projected daily vaccination rate.

Aside from hiring more vaccinators, Malapitan said the city government is also urging doctors, nurses and midwives to volunteer for the city-wide vaccination program on Covid-19.

“We have also identified a total of 54 vaccination sites, majority of them are schools turned into a vaccination area in coordination with the Department of Education and Division of City Schools,” he said.

To implement a fully efficient vaccination plan in the city, Malapitan said the city government has already provided various orientations to the vaccinators composed of physicians and nurses in the hospitals as well as healthcare workers in health centers.

The city government is also readying the logistics and supplies needed such as refrigerators, vaccine transport, and vaccine carriers.

“The city government is currently procuring this,” Malapitan shared, adding that the city is also hastening preparations for the cold chain storage facilities.

According to Malapitan, the city has a total of 1.7 million population.

Of the figure, 1.1 million are adult residents while around 600,000 individuals are aged 17 below.

He said the city government is eyeing to tap around 1,600 vaccinators to hasten the immunization of its target population.

Malapitan earlier said he is willing to get vaccinated of any vaccine brand. (PNA)