The city government is expecting the delivery of additional vaccines from the Department of Health (DOH) in the coming days as more senior citizens in the city have signified to be inoculated against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), an official said on Tuesday.
Dr. Lalaine Calonzo, assistant head of the City Health Office (CHO), said the vaccination activities for the first batch of recipients started smoothly on Monday in 10 established cluster sites for the city’s 26 barangays.
She said at least 46 vials or single doses of CoronaVac, the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Chinese company Sinovac Biotech, were allotted per barangay out of the 1,408 doses delivered by DOH-12 last week.
Calonzo, who heads the Rural Health Unit (RHU) in Barangay Lagao, said more senior citizens have lined up to register and undergo pre-screening for the vaccination.
“They came early and some were even in wheelchairs,” she told reporters.
CHO said a total of 361 senior citizens in the city received their first dose of the CoronaVac on Monday, the first of the six-day rollout set by DOH-12.
Among those vaccinated was 94-year-old Rosalina Fredelucis of Barangay Ligaya.
Some 28,119 senior citizens were included in the city’s vaccination master list based on the records provided by the Office of Senior Citizen Affairs, Community-Based Monitoring System data, and RHU databases.
The local government has so far validated 18,388 eligible recipients and endorsed for vaccine allocation.
Mary Rose Ann Aloot, CHO health education and promotion officer, said the vaccination sites include the Barangay Hall of Lagao, Barangay Conel RHU, Barangay Apopong gymnasium, Barangay Dadiangas West RHU, Barangay Calumpang RHU, Barangay Labangal RHU, Barangay Fatima RHU, Robinsons Place, SM City General Santos and KCC Convention Center.
She said all eligible senior citizens are required to register at their RHUs or through the city’s online portal and no walk-in recipients are allowed at the vaccination sites.
“Strictly no vaccination card, no vaccination,” she said, adding that registration booths are also available in the three mall-based vaccination sites. (PNA)
