The Department of Health (DOH) in Central Visayas on Tuesday encouraged local government units (LGU) to form mobile vaccination teams to speed up inoculation to priority individuals, particularly the senior citizens.

DOH-7 regional director Dr. Jaime Bernadas said mobile vaccination centers at the barangay level will be convenient to those who could not go to LGU-established sites and get their coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) jabs right at their doorstep.

“You know our senior citizens have limited mobility or some of them are poorly mobile so our vaccination team in barangays should try to evolve into something that is more friendly to senior citizens and friendly to those who really cannot go to our vaccination post,” Bernadas said in a press briefing.

These mobile teams, he said, should do the necessary evaluation and screening before vaccination, as well as the required post-inoculation observation time for at least an hour to monitor adverse events.

Bernadas said the regional health office is optimistic of reaching 70 percent population protection by the end of July.

He urged LGUs to prepare as the bulk of vaccine supplies is scheduled to arrive next month, as announced Monday by vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr.

The DOH-7 chief also advised LGUs in the Central Visayas region to prepare a “quick substitution list” that can be used in case those who are scheduled to be vaccinated will not show up on schedule.

Bernadas said those who will get inoculated under the quick substitution list should belong to the same priority group and in the same vaccination center “to really maximize what’s open for the day.”

Meanwhile, he urged medical front-liners who have not received yet even the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to better do it now, saying they need to ensure that health workers are safe while doing their job.

“Last (Monday) night, President Rodrigo Duterte encouraged everyone to be vaccinated. That was a very strongly worded statement that everybody should get vaccinated and that is more than encouragement,” he said. (PNA)