The Muntinlupa City government is seeking the help of the religious sector in encouraging residents to get vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
During the city’s COVID-19 Vaccine Virtual Town Hall Meeting, Muntinlupa City Health Office chief, Dr. Teresa Tuliao, asked religious group leaders to help promote the vaccination services of the government and encourage their congregation to get vaccinated.
At least 140 participants from religious groups, community organizations, and Sangguniang Kabataan attended the virtual meeting on Feb. 18 held in partnership with the Department of Health (DOH).
DOH-Metro Manila Center for Health Development District Manager Officer Dr. Jose Mari Castro discussed COVID-19 management and underscored the importance of vaccines in protecting individuals and communities amid the pandemic.
Recently, Interior and Local Government Usec. Jonathan Malaya commended the city’s social mobilization strategies with the religious sector in promoting COVID-19 vaccination during Mass celebrations as part of local demand generation efforts.
Muntinlupa Public Information Office (PIO) chief, Tez Navarro, said the initiative is part of the local government’s campaign to enable, inform, motivate, and empower high priority groups to access the vaccination service through the City Health Office, Community Affairs Development Office, and Management Information System Office.
She is hoping the communication strategy of inviting healthcare professionals to explain information on the vaccine will help improve the immunization uptake in Muntinlupa.
“We will conduct a series of dialogue with individuals and communities to help them understand the value of vaccines so more Muntinlupeños will be convinced to be inoculated,” said Navarro.
Based on the latest survey by the city government as of Feb. 19, out of 22,611 respondents, 15,601 or 69 percent, said they are willing to be vaccinated, up from 63 percent last Feb. 5, while the remaining 31 percent said no.
Former Muntinlupa mayor Ignacio Bunye expressed his support to the program and vowed to assist the city’s education program for COVID-19 demand generation.
The city government launched last Feb. 10 the information campaign that was attended by 120 participants from homeowners associations and urban poor groups. The pilot town hall meeting was organized in partnership with the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine and Food and Drug Administration.
The Muntinlupa PIO continues to hold a series of dialogues with individuals and communities to improve health literacy and help the public understand information on COVID-19 vaccines.
As of Feb. 18, Muntinlupa has 49 active COVID-19 cases out of 5,516 confirmed including 5,295 recoveries and 172 deaths.