BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Mayor Evelio Leonardia supervised the vaccination flow at the Ayala Malls Capitol Central and SMX Convention Center yesterday.
He was assisted by Ayala mall manager, Ma. Sharon Ciocon, and Emergency Operations Center deputy for medical, Dr. Chris Sorongon.
At the SMX Convention Center of SM City, Leonardia was assisted by City Administrator Em Ang, executive director of EOC and coordinator of CoVaC, Dr. Anna Maria Laarni Pornan – deputy medical of EOC, and mall manager George Anthony Jardiolin, a press release from the city said.
The EOC-Task Force and the Covid-19 Vaccination Council, both chaired by Leonardia, continue to administer the first and second doses of vaccine to Bacolodnons classified as priority groups under the A1 or frontline healthcare workers, A2 – senior citizens, and A3 or adults with co-morbidities.
Bacolod recently received 17,000 additional doses of Sinovac vaccine, and OIC City Health Officer, Dr. Edwin Miraflor Jr., said they are now using the supply to inoculate 8,500, either for their first or second doses.
Since March 5 to June 8, a total of 17,356 Sinovac and 21,876 AstraZeneca vaccines from the national government were administered to Bacolod residents.
Leonardia earlier requested the national government to allocate more vaccines for Bacolod amid the continued surge in local cases. As national president of the League of Cities of the Philippines, he also asked to include other high-risk areas in the priority recipients of Covid-19 vaccines.
In response, National Task Force Against Covid-19 chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. told Leonardia, in a letter dated June 2, that “enough doses will be given to inoculate 100 percent” of Bacolod’s adult population and that the vaccines will be delivered “in accordance with the existing laws, rules, and regulations.”
“We understand your alarm in the recent upsurge of cases in various parts of our country, including those outside the NCR+8. Towards this end, we believe that vaccinating more segments of our population is needed to stem out further cases,” Galvez added.
As of June 9, Bacolod has logged 10,588 confirmed infections, including 1,578 active cases, 8,734 recoveries, and 276 deaths.
AUGMENTATION
Meanwhile, the Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade dispatched yesterday a six-man team to help the contact tracing efforts of the Bacolod City government in the fight against the spread of Covid-19.
Col. Inocencio Pasaporte, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, said the team of Army soldiers will be tasked to monitor Covid cases and to help identify those individuals having contact with infected persons.
This was on top of the continuous loudspeaker operations, in tandem with the Bacolod City Police Office, in support to the Bacolod Inter-Agency Task Force campaign against the disease.
Pasaporte said that the 303rd IB will assist to its full capacity in being of service to the people of Bacolod and Negros Occidental. The fight against Covid-19 should involve not only the government but also the citizens, Pasaporte said, stressing that the full cooperation of the people is a must to eliminate the “unseen enemy”.*with reports from PNA
