Parañaque City residents flocked a mall in the city on Monday (May 17), in hopes of getting vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, but many left the place disappointed and criticized the handling that they experienced.
A resident who requested anonymity, reached out to the Manila Bulletin and mentioned how the rollout became a "super-spreader" event mainly due to the reason that there was only one venue for the Pfizer vaccine rollout which was the mall, concentrating all residents in a single place.
"So the whole of Parañaque in A1 - A3 classifications came by because many didn’t get confirmation texts," she said.
The resident mentioned that the city initially said in a post on the Facebook page of the Public Information Office on Sunday afternoon that “interested fellows” may come..
"By Sunday night, it was changed to those who have confirmed schedule. But what is a confirmed schedule? When people just get an email or text confirming a Patient ID," she said.
"Also in the Sputnik rollout, walk-ins were allowed so naturally now people know that is possible so a lot came by," she added.
It can be remembered that many residents were also eager to get inoculated during the pilot vaccination of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V in Parañaque City on May 4, and a lot of them were left fuming after they spent hours waiting without even getting the jab.
Meanwhile, the resident also claimed that the way the seniors were treated, they were just standing on snake lines spanning the whole transport terminal from morning until afternoon in the "sweltering heat".
The resident, who belonged to the A3 category or persons with comorbidities, arrived at the mall at 7:40 a.m. with her husband who recovered from COVID-19. She said that marshals in the area also did not know how to respond and were sending people back in line which by 8:30 a.m. was already 2,000, according to her.
Mayor Edwin Olivarez said in a report on 24 Oras that many walk-ins or those who did not receive a text confirmation for their schedule of vaccination arrived. He said that they were advised that there will be a specific time for them to come.
"Kanina po yung ating mga di po nakatanggap ng message po natin pinauwi natin sila immediately talaga pong pinauwi na po natin sila para po ang inentertain lang po natin yung specific lang na pinapunta natin ngayon pong araw na ito (Earlier we asked those who did not receive any confirmation to go home immediately and we only entertained those who were given a specific schedule for this day)," he said.