THE Davao City Government is expected to start its vaccine rollout to the A4 priority group or the frontline personnel in essential sectors in July this year.
Davao City Covid-19 Vaccine Cluster head Dr. Josephine Villafuerte said in a radio interview that the city is preparing to vaccinate the A4 group following the arrival of more vaccines in the city.
On June 10 and 11, a total of 210,600 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 Covid-19 vaccine arrived in the city.
Villafuerte said the vaccine rollout for the Priority Groups A2 (senior citizens) and A3 (persons with comorbidities) will still continue despite opening the line for A4.
The city currently has 20 vaccination sites. But Villafuerte said the city is set to open more vaccination sites for the A4 group.
"Para madaghan na kaayo [ta mabakunahan]. So wala na tay hadlok kung asa sila paingon ug magtapok tanan sa isa ka facility (So we can vaccinate more individuals. We won’t be worried where we can designate them to avoid crowding in a certain vaccination facility)," she said.
The official said they are expecting wider vaccination coverage due to the increased number of vaccinators.
"There's going to be a lot of vaccination sites. Ang ginahimo nato karon (What we are doing right now) is we're inspecting their proposed vaccination sites," Villafuerte said.
Villafuerte also said that some companies are currently preparing for the arrival of their purchased vaccines.
"We might open next month. Big companies are preparing their vaccination site and vaccination team. Ang ginahulat na lang kay vaccines nila kay they purchased man. So mag-abot man daw ang vaccines (They are currently awaiting for the vaccines they purchased. The vaccines are expected to arrive) by third quarter this year, so most probably July," the health official said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.
Companies that do not have the budget to purchase vaccines will be catered to in the city government's vaccine rollout.
Meanwhile, Villafuerte reiterated that “walk-ins” are strictly prohibited and vaccines are reminded to register by visiting their nearest district health centers, or register online via Safe Davao QR (DQR) Code application or website.
The vaccine cluster head said the city is expecting the arrival of another batch of Covid-19 vaccines, namely Sinovac, and AstraZeneca. The city is also expecting the arrival of the first batch of Moderna Covid-19 vaccines.
Meanwhile, as of June 14, Villafuerte said the city already fully vaccinated almost 10 percent of the targeted 1.2 million herd immunity, or an estimated 120,000 Dabawenyos.
She said the figures are expected to increase following the arrival of the Pfizer vaccines, which will solely be allocated in the city due to its capacity to store the vaccine's temperature requirement, which needs to be stored at an ultra-low storage facility.
She added the city can achieve its target to vaccine the targeted deadline in November this year once supplies will be stable.