TAYTAY, Rizal – More local folks have expressed intent to be injected with COVID-19 vaccines as the local government culminated its vaccination.
According to Taytay Mayor Joric Gacula, two major local health facilities — the Manila East Medical Center and the local government-operated Taytay Emergency Hospital has started vaccination of medical frontliners, in compliance to the National Task Force Against COVID-19, which cited the healthcare workers as the first to take the vaccine shots.
In a statement, Gacula noted a surge in the number of local folks wanting to get vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines as per data gathered from the municipal government’s online vaccine registration portal.
More than the start of the vaccination, Gacula attributed the rise in the number of residents wanting a shot of the COVID-19 vaccines to the local vaccination plan presented in their five densely-populated barangays during the visits made by the local health department headed by municipal health office chief Dr. Jeffrey Roxas.
“I really do not have the exact number on how many of them are still undecided but I think there is just a small fraction, but what I can share to you is that the past few days showed more local folks have expressed their intent to be injected with the available COVID-19 vaccines,” said Gacula.
He admitted that the local government’s online vaccination registration had a slow start, but then rapidly increased to a little less than 2,000 today following the announcement on the culmination of inoculation among the local healthcare workers.
Earlier, the Department of Health (DOH) and the Rizal Provincial Government had its ceremonial vaccination of local medical frontliners at the Taytay Doctors Hospital.
“The issues floating around don’t bother us. Why? Because the vaccines are to give us protein to make ourselves develop antibodies that would fight the COVID-19 virus,” Gacula Added.
He, however, admitted that they would be stricter when it comes to the implementation of minimum public health safety protocols – mandatory wearing of face masks, face shields, social gatherings, curfew hours, among other guidelines set by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, citing the resurgence of infections as reported by the DOH.
Gacula said the municipality has an estimated 375,000 residents. Of this figure, the local government intends to vaccinate 90 percent, using the P320-million fund allocation of their LGU.
The local government has already identified 46 local vaccine centers, which will be manned by medical professionals from both the government and the private health institutions. Taytay has also identified a cold storage facility to keep the potency of the vaccines.
Among the priority groups for the municipality’s coronavirus vaccine rollout are the healthcare workers, senior citizens, indigent population, children and other clusters specified by the National Task Force Against COVID-19.
Taytay LGU is also ramping up efforts for its vaccination campaign as he urged more residents to sign up for the Taytay COVID-19 vaccine registration.