THE Cebu City Government vaccinated 966 persons deprived of liberty (PDL) in Cebu City Jail’s male dormitory in Barangay Kalunasan on the first day of the vaccination for PDL Monday, Oct. 18, 2021.
City Councilor Dave Tumulak, who supervised the inoculation, said the first day of the PDLs’ vaccination went without a hitch.
Tumulak said there are more than 6,000 PDL staying in the male dormitory, while more than 900 are in the female dormitory.
The local lawmaker said 50 percent of the PDL staying in the city jail expressed their willingness to get their Covid-19 vaccine jabs.
City Health Department (CHD) chief Dr. Jeffrey Ibones said they had planned to vaccinate the PDL, but they could not push through with it because at the time Cebu City did not have enough supply of vaccines.
Ibones said they first vaccinated PDL who are senior citizens and PDL with comorbidities.
Doctors had checked the PDLs’ physical condition before they received their shots, said Ibones.
Ibones said if other PDL decide to be vaccinated, the CHD is ready to vaccinate them as the City Government now has an adequate supply of vaccines.
The Department of Health and the Bureau of Fire Protection personnel with medical background assisted in the vaccination.
Ibones said their vaccination rollout in Cebu City Jail’s male dormitory will last a week. After all the male PDL are vaccinated, the vaccination will transfer to the female dormitory.
The city jail previously had the highest number of Covid-19 cases among jail facilities in the country during the first surge of coronavirus disease in Cebu City in the first half of 2020. (PAC / KAL)