San Juan City Mayor Francisco Zamora on Wednesday volunteered to be the first person in the city to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
(ALI VICOY / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
In a letter addressed to Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III, Zamora asked if he could be the first person to take the jab in San Juan City in order to allay the fears of his constituents about the vaccines.
"We very well understand that there is a prioritization list as identified by the IATF, on top of which are the health care workers and medical frontliners. However, the undersigned (Zamora) is volunteering in order to increase the trust and confidence of our citizens in the vaccination process and to encourage them to have themselves inoculated as well." Zamora said in his letter.
"The City of San Juan has been earnestly campaigning for people to register for the COVID-19 vaccine. In fact, we have started the online and offline registration as early as 4 January 2021. Unfortunately, as of this time, and after a month and six days, we only have a total of 18,602 registrants or just 15% of the city’s total population, still far from our target of 70% (85,526 people) to achieve herd immunity." he added.
Zamora, together with other city government officials, launched on Tuesday a house-to-house information drive on COVID-19 to increase the residents' knowledge about the virus and the vaccines, and also to urge them to be inoculated against it.
An on-the-spot online registration station was also set up for residents who have no access to the internet so they can be added to the city's list of vaccine beneficiaries.
During the visit of the Coordinated Operations to Defeat Epidemic (CODE) team to the city on Wednesday, the local government's plans and initiatives in ensuring the smooth and efficient rollout of the vaccines was commended. The CODE team also lauded the city government's strict implementation of the proper safety guidelines and health protocols in order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in San Juan.