By Khriscielle Yalao
Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso asserted that “vaccination is the solution” in the fight against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic as he highlighted the steady decline of COVID-19 cases in the city following the surge early this month.
In the Facebook livestream of the Capital Report on Friday, Jan. 21, Domagoso said the city government is committed to continue its extensive vaccination efforts and make vaccinations in the city accessible to the public.
"We are going to vaccinate a lot of people. We will continue the goal. We will not be confused by any other things. Vaccination is the solution," Domagoso said.
Domagoso reported a downward trend in recent COVID-19 cases in the city based on data provided by the Manila Health Department (MHD) and the Manila Emergency Operations Center Covid-19 Monitoring (MEOC).
The total number of active COVID-19 cases in Manila dropped to 2,046 on Friday, Jan. 21, from 3,150 cases on Wednesday, Jan. 19, and 2,486 cases on Thursday, Jan. 20.
Only 342 new active cases were recorded on Jan. 21, compared to the 800 to 900 new cases the city had per day in the beginning of January 2022.
Sampaloc logged the highest number of active cases at 484, followed by Tondo 2 with 196, Tondo 1 with 195, Paco with 174, and Malate with 162 cases.
On Jan. 21, 913 new recovered cases were recorded, bringing the total number of recoveries to 98,271. The city has listed 1,810 deaths.
Domagoso said the city government also aims to encourage and educate vaccine hesitant residents and non-residents to get inoculated.
He asked the communities and individuals to cooperate with the city government in its pandemic response programs.
“At the end of the day, you have to decide kasi you have to be responsible to others. As a citizen, meron ka ring responsibilidad sa iyong pamayanan, sa iyong bansa. Hindi lang gobyerno ang may responsibilidad sa tao (At the end of the day, you have to decide because you have to be responsible to others. As a citizen, you also have a responsibility to your government and your country. Public health and safety is not the lone responsibility of the government)," Moreno said.
The MHD and MEOC reported that the city has administered 3,169,925 vaccine doses as of Jan. 21. A total of 1,677,592 individuals are partially vaccinated while 1,535,223 are fully vaccinated.
The city of Manila is also operating the Luneta drive-thru booster shot facility and the 24-hour drive-thru booster site for motorcycle bicycle riders at Kartilya ng Katipunan.
About 1,242 market workers received their booster shots in the vaccination drive at the Divisoria Market in Tondo, Manila from Wednesday, Jan. 5, to Thursday, Jan. 6.
Around 668 PUV drivers were given their booster shots at the Bagong Ospital ng Maynila on Monday, Jan. 17.
Some 533 minors aged 12 to 17 and senior citizens were vaccinated at the vaccination sites set up in the Manila Zoo on Thursday, Jan. 20.