Local government units (LGUs) incurring wastage of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19 vaccines will be issued with show-cause-orders (SCOs), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said on Wednesday, Nov. 17.
In a news briefing, Malaya issued the assurance after being pressed on what is in store for the LGUs with COVID-19 vaccine wastage at the time when the country is aiming to inoculate between 1 to 1.5 million individuals daily to achieve herd immunity this year.
However, Malaya clarified that the SCOs will be issued to the concerned LGUs after DILG Secretary Eduardo Año gives his go signal.
With the pronouncement, Malaya said that in a few days the DILG will make public the LGUs that erred in their respective vaccination programs.
“Tinatapos na po namin at vinavalidate yung report mula sa National Vaccine Operations Center (NVOC). So baka po before the end of the week ay magkakaroon po kami ng issuance ng mga
show-cause-orders as soon as aprubahan ni (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Ano yung issuance nito sa mga LGUs (We are rushing the validation of the National Vaccine Operations center (NVOC) report. Probably before the end of the week we can issue the show-cause-orders as soon as Secretary Eduardo Año approves them),’’ Malaya said.
Concerning the encoding vaccination data woes, Malaya confirmed that the insufficient number of encoders has hampered the process citing the need to hire more of them and be assigned to specific LGUs.
On the flip side, the much improved vaccination rate inches the country in attaining population protection against COVID-19.
“Ang problema po kasi natin sa encoding ng vaccination data is the problem of the sufficient number of encoders (The problem with the encoding of the vaccination data is the sufficient number of encoders),’’ he added.
Explaining further, Malaya stressed the steady rise in the vaccination rate requires the hiring of more encoders to do the vaccination line encoding that will be submitted to the Department of Communications and Information Technology (DICT) and Department of Health (DOH).
To address the issue, Malaya said that the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has opened its government internship program to facilitate the hiring of additional encoders and solve the backlog problems.
For Metro Manila, Malaya noted that DOLE has opened 100 slots for the encoders who will be assigned in the LGUs that need their services similar to what was done in the hiring of more contact tracers in the past.
“May mga pinadala rin po ang DILG at ang DOLE through TUPAD (Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers) para po makapag hire (encoders) (The DILG and DOLE has sent through TUPAD to hire),’’ Malaya said. (Chito A. Chavez)