THE City Government of Bacolod already identified 26 vaccination centers for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine program in the city.
Councilor Renecito Novero, member of Bacolod Covid-19 vaccination (Covac) Council, said Monday, February 8, that they already inspected the 26 identified vaccination centers in various barangays.
"We already finished the inspection and reported it to Mayor Evelio Leonardia and to the members of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC)," he said.
He added that most of the vaccination centers include the barangay gymnasiums and schools.
Novero noted that Covac earlier proposed about 30 vaccination centers, but some are lacking space for the vaccination program.
On Friday, February 5, the City Government held a dry-run on vaccination program in Barangay Villamonte.
The simulation included the pickup and transport of vaccines and other supplies from the central cold storage facility to the designated vaccination areas, the actual inoculation, the 30- to 45-minute post-vaccination monitoring, the disinfection of the venues, and the disposal of infectious wastes.
Novero said the vaccination centers should have a big space to accommodate a big number of residents who want to be vaccinated.
"We will use these 26 identified vaccination centers once the vaccines against Covid-19 are available," he said.
He added the vaccination centers will be managed by the City Health Office (CHO) with two doctors and about 10 nurses and midwives each center.
Novero noted it was also proposed to augment the medical students, who will also undergo training for the vaccination program, to help the medical frontliners.
Covac also proposed to provide a refrigerating unit in every vaccination center as well as generators to preserve the vaccines.
Novero said Mayor Evelio Leonardia earlier announced that the vaccine will arrive possibly in July and by this month, everything should be ready for the vaccination program.
Bacolod is among the first cities to negotiate its Covid-19 vaccines. It has already reserved 650,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines to kick off its vaccination program, making it among the top five cities in the country with the biggest vaccine orders together with Davao City, Quezon City, Makati City and the City of Manila.