BATANG MAYNILA
Mayor Isko Moreno
It has been an eventful week for us in the local government of Manila and we are but glad to announce that we are now more than ready with our vaccination program. All we need is just for the vaccines to finally arrive.
We are also proud to report that we, Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna and myself, have already opened the city’s storage facility for COVID vaccines on the seventh floor of the Sta. Ana Hospital.
Before this, we also received the newly-delivered freezers for Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines, thus completing the storage units needed so that our storage facility can now accommodate any and all kinds of vaccines available in the market and that may arrive in the country.
We have refrigeration units and a storage facility that can meet all kinds of temperature requirements that whatever vaccines may require for them to be stored properly, regardless of the makers or brand.
We now have 12 ultra-low temperature freezers in the storage facility and vaccines are all that are lacking for the local government’s action plans with regard to the vaccine rollout.
Our storage facility will be able to accommodate at least 800,000 doses of whatever kind of vaccine arrives.
Upon receipt of the last set of freezers that completed our facility, Vice Mayor Honey and I immediately called for a meeting with concerned city personnel, to polish the plans and roles they will play once the vaccines arrive and the storage facility operates fully. At least 300 individuals will be utilized by the city government to administer the vaccines to those who are interested in getting inoculated for free.
Through the hard work of our City Engineer Armand Andres, to whom I entrusted the construction of the storage facility, it was done in a matter of about ten days only and I laud him for it.
Our storage facility has an anti-bacterial vinyl flooring, a bacteria-free storage of the vaccines, and 11 closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.
The freezer units are equipped with an uninterrupted power supply (UPS) feature that would give them ten to 15 minutes lead time in case of a brownout before the generators take over.
Also this week, we created the Manila COVID-19 Vaccine Action Center (MCVAC) in preparation for the coming free vaccination of about a million city residents, workers, and visitors as soon as the vaccines arrive.
The MCVAC aims to assist in the registration of persons planning to have the vaccination against COVID-19, handle inquiries about the vaccine, and do reporting and referral of AEFI (adverse events following immunization).
The public is encouraged to contact the MCVAC via celphone numbers 0927-351-0849, 0915-703-0621, 0968-572-1975, or 0961-020-2655 for inquiries about the COVID-19 vaccination program.
The step-by-step vaccination process is as follows: Individuals will be at the waiting area for vital signs taking; they go to pre-registered area for verification of client’s identification and counseling or for walk-in individuals’ observation area for registration and counseling; they will be at the screening area for assessment and final consent; they proceed to the vaccination area and completion of immunization card; they go to the monitoring area, where the individuals will be monitored for 30 minutes to an hour for any adverse reaction to the vaccine.
In case of an AEFI or adverse event following immunization, there will be an Emergency Response Team, consisting of a doctor and an ambulance complete with medical emergency kits, on standby. In case of emergency, the individual will be sent to the nearest hospital in Manila.
Days before we inaugurated the storage facility, Vice Mayor Honey and myself awarded a total of 259 barangays in Manila for keeping their areas COVID-free for the past two months. Of the number, 33 are “grandslammers” meaning, they have been COVID-free for four months in a row now.
While we also thank the other barangays which have been able to maintain a low number of infections in their areas of responsibility, we incentivized the efforts of those that remained COVID-free by giving them cash awards.
The money will not go to the pockets of the barangay heads concerned. It will be used to buy certain needs of the barangay like food or PPEs.
This only goes to show that being COVID-free is a doable and replicable feat. I urge those who did not make it to the list of awardees to get tips from the barangays that succeeded. We can do this!!!
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Gaya ng paulit-ulit kong sinasabi, kailangan ko ang tulong ninyong lahat. Walang magmamalasakit sa Maynila kundi tayo ding mga Batang Maynila. Manila, God first!***
For updates on latest developments in the city of Manila, please visit my Facebook account – “Isko Moreno Domagoso.”