The Department of Health (DOH) commended the Muntinlupa City government’s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination plan and other best practices during an assessment visit by the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 and Coordinated Operations to Defeat Epidemic (CODE) Team in the city.
DOH Usec. Myrna Cabotaje lauded the city’s “end-to-end planning” for the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines from the procurement process up to the ancillary equipment disposal.
“Ang maganda sa plano, end to end. Paano sila dumating tapos paano yung pag-dispose. Meron na silang coordination kung paano idi-dispose itong mga vials at saka yung ating mga ancillary, needles. Ang isang malaking improvement sa kanila, napakarami ng kanilang vaccination team (The good thing about the plan is it is end to end from the arrival of the vaccines to how it will be disposed of. They have coordination on how to dispose of the vials and ancillary -- needles. One big improvement in their plan is that they have many vaccination teams),” said Cabotaje.
In her presentation, Muntinlupa City Health Office (CHO) chief Dr. Teresa Tuliao said the city will have 82 vaccination teams consisting of 56 teams from the City Health Office (CHO), four from the Ospital ng Muntinlupa, and 22 from the Asian Hospital and Medical Center with a total of 492 medical staff. There will be 35 vaccination centers: 28 in public schools and seven in hospitals.
Of the 547,173 total population of Muntinlupa, 383,021 individuals, or 70 percent, are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination. The target is to vaccinate 8,200 individuals per day.
Cabotaje also noted the strong public-private partnership for the local vaccination plan and underscored the importance of cooperation among stakeholders as the primary advice of NTF against COVID-19 chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr.
Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) also praised the city’s coordination with the religious sector in ensuring the promotion of COVID-19 vaccination during Mass celebrations.
Malaya added that the DILG will integrate the campaign on COVID-19 vaccines to explain the importance of the vaccine to the public as part of the agenda for this year’s Barangay Assemblies.
The Muntinlupa City government is intensifying its information campaign to encourage residents to get vaccinated.
Its latest survey showed that out of the 4,074 respondents from Muntinlupa’s nine barangays, 63 percent or 2,567 individuals said they are willing to get vaccinated, an increase from 54 percent in the last survey dated Jan. 18. 788 respondents or 19.34 percent said “no” and 719 or 17.65 percent did not answer and were classified as “unaccounted.”
The Muntinlupa Public Information Office and the City Health Office continue to conduct Virtual Town Hall Meetings, regular coordination with Barangay Information Officers for information dissemination and risk communication, and weekly virtual briefings.