The San Juan City local government said that it is ready to vaccinate non-residents to help protect more people in the country against COVID-19 and its more contagious Delta variant.
San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora made the announcement in a radio interview after Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Benhur Abalos said that cities who have already achieved herd immunity or population protection and are now close to vaccinating all its eligible residents may also start vaccinating people outside their areas.
"As early as about three months ago, ang San Juan po ay nagbukas na ng pagbabakuna sa mga A4 (economic frontliners) na hindi taga San Juan ngunit sa San Juan nagtatrabaho (As early as three months ago, San Juan started vaccinating people under the A4 category who are non-residents of San Juan but are working in the city)," Zamora said.
"At nang nagkausap po kami ni MMDA Chairman Abalos, dahil nga patapos na rin kami ng pagbabakuna, ay sinabi ko po na puwede na kaming magbukas ng pagbabakuna para sa mga taga ibang lungsod at probinsya (After I spoke with MMDA Chairman Abalos, I said that since we are close to vaccinating all our citizens, we may also start to vaccinate people from other cities and municipalities)," he added.
The mayor said that the city is just waiting for the centralized database from the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to determine the people who have already been vaccinated in other cities or provinces.
"Ang sabi naman po ni Chairman Abalos at ng DICT ay by first week of September matatapos na po ang centralized database. Once that happens, ay puwede na naming i-verify agad kung bakunado na o hindi pa ang nagparehistro mula sa ibang lugar. Ito po ay added precaution at verification mechanisms natin (Chairman Abalos and the DICT said that the centralized database will be finished by the first week of September. Once that happens, we may now verify immediately if the people who registered are already vaccinated in other places. This is an added precaution and verification mechanism)," Zamora said.
As of August 24, San Juan has already vaccinated 174,198 residents with their first dose, equivalent to 137.87 percent of its total population; while 115,804 have been inoculated with their second dose, equivalent to 91.66 percent of its total population.