THE Bacolod City Covid-19 Vaccination Council (CoVaC) continues with its on-site workplace vaccination drive by inoculating business process outsourcing (BPO) workers of ARB Call Facilities over the weekend.
City Administrator Em Ang, concurrent executive director of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and CoVaC coordinator, said the vaccination team, led by EOC deputy medical Dr. Anna Maria Laarni Pornan and nurse Kaye Marie Malapitan, had vaccinated a total of 372 ARB employees upon the request of its Human Capital Supervisor Jaivie Tabarno.
Both the EOC and the CoVaC are chaired by Mayor Evelio Leonardia.
The CoVaC had earlier conducted on-site vaccination drives at various BPO firms including Transcom, PanAsiatic Solutions, Concentrix, and Ubiquity Global Services.
It had also inoculated employees of Teleperformance and Focus Direct at the vaccination center in Ayala Malls Capitol Central.
The EOC and the CoVaC have introduced innovative and aggressive strategies to the vaccination campaign of the city -- all geared towards achieving herd immunity.
One of these is the Graveyard Shift Vaccination Drive for night-duty BPO workers, which is one of its kind in the country.
Other strategies included the 24/7 vaccination drive, VAX-i mobile bus vaccination, the drive-thru vaccination, the "BigJab Weekend" at two major malls, the mall-based inoculations, and on-site campaign at BPO firms, among others.
“Vaccination is currently the leading public health strategy to end the Covid-19 pandemic. In order to fast-track our vaccination program, we are reaching out to as many workers and populous sectors as possible and making Covid-19 vaccines accessible to all eligible persons,” Ang said.
Leonardia said the city government's goal is to make the vaccines available to as many Bacolodnons.
Meanwhile, Ang said a third mobile vaccination clinic, or the VAX-i Bus, is now helping accelerate Bacolod's Covid-19 vaccination drive.
The third bus is called the “Philippine Red Cross Bakuna Bus” which is manned by a team of volunteers, with vaccines provided by the Bacolod City government.
The bus is provided by Vallacar Transit, Inc., operator of Ceres buses, headed by its chief executive officer, Leo Rey Yanson.
The Red Cross bus had conducted inoculations in Purok Riverside of Barangay Banago; Santa Clara Subdivision (West); and Bacolod City Public Plaza on Sunday, September 5.
On Monday, September 6, the Bakuna Bus was scheduled to go to Eroreco Subdivision in Barangay Mandalagan.
Ang added that the City Government and the Philippine Red Cross have an ongoing partnership through the vaccination site at Gaisano City. (PR)