The Department of Health (DOH) assured residents of Metro Manila that coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccinations will not be stopped as the capital region is set to be placed under the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) starting Friday, August 6.

“Hindi po mapuputol or we will not discontinue ito pong pagbabakuna natin (We will not halt or we will not discontinue this vaccination),” said DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire on Saturday, July 31.

“Ito pong pagbabakuna ay isang magiging armas natin laban sa Delta variant kaya isa po ito sa paiigtingin ng ating gobyerno kahit tayo ay naka-ECQ (This vaccination will be our weapon against the Delta variant. The government will intensify this even if we are on ECQ),” she added.

Minimum public health standards will be strictly implemented in the vaccination sites, said Vergeire.

“Gagawa tayo ng mga safe vaccination sites kung saan sisiguraduhin natin na hindi po tayo magkukumpul-kumpulan kapag tayo ay magpapabakuna na. There will be scheduling, we will be using bigger vaccination sites (We have safe vaccination sites where we will make sure that we do not huddle close to each other when we get vaccinated. There will be scheduling, we will be using bigger vaccination sites),” she said.

“Nag-uusap-usap na ngayon ang ating mga officials and our operations person kung paano natin isasagawa ito na tayo ay magiging ligtas pa rin (Our officials and our operations personnel are now talks about how we can do this to ensure safety),” she added.

The DOH also approved the conduct of house-to-house vaccination.

“Sa tingin namin maganda iyan na strategy. Unang-una, masisiguro natin na hindi magkukumpul-kumpol ang mga tao (We think that's a good strategy. First of all, we can make sure that people will not gather),” said Vergeire.

“Mas maganda kasi masusuyod natin bahay-bahay. Wala tayong maiiwan na hindi bakunado dito sa ating komunidad. So, maganda po iyang strategy na iyan if LGUs have the resources, maari po nating gawin iyan (It's better because we can conduct house-to-house surveillance . No people will be left unvaccinated in the communities. So, that strategy is good. If LGUs have the resources, we can do that),” she added.

Amid the imposition of ECQ, LGUs in Metro Manila said that they are aiming to inoculate at least 180,000 people in a day, said the Health official.

“Sinasabi ng ating mga Metro Manila mayors na baka sana kakayanin nila between 180,000 to 200,000 per day itong pagbabakuna among all of the cities and the lone municipality here in Metro Manila (Our Metro Manila mayors say that they might be able to vaccinate between 180,000 to 200,000 per day among all of the cities and the lone municipality here in Metro Manila),” said Vergeire.

“By doing that, they will be able to achieve at least itong 70 percent nung kanilang populasyon by September. So, ito po ay susuportahan naman ng ating national government (By doing that, they will be able to achieve at least 70 percent of their population by September. So, this will be supported by the national government),” she added.

Vergeire assured that the DOH will provide assistance to LGUs on how to conduct the vaccination amid the ECQ.

“Titingnan natin kung paano rin natin sila siyempre maga-guide (We will see how we can guide them) on how we can better do this so that it can be something that can be used for us to protect our citizens from this Delta variant,” she said.