The City of Makati has started distributing P1,000 gift certificates each to more than 24,352 fully-vaccinated senior citizens to show gratitude and appreciation for their support to the local government’s “Bakuna Makati” program.
The incentive, according to Mayor Abigail Binay, was one of the strategic measures made by her administration to overcome vaccine hesitancy, especially among the elderly who are at high risk of suffering severe symptoms due to COVID-19.
“This past month, there has been an uptick in the number of senior citizens that registered for COVID-19 vaccination under the A2 category. As of the end of July, we have registered around 50,000 senior citizens. Of these, 44,121 got their first dose of the vaccine, while 35,813 got their second dose,” said Binay.
“Ideally, we should achieve 100 percent vaccination rate among the elderly. However, it would still depend on their willingness to get vaccinated and on the availability of vaccines,” she added.
The city chief executive reiterated the city’s commitment to the prioritization guidelines set by the Department of Health.
“We have strictly followed DOH protocols in allocating vaccines provided by the national government, and we intend to do the same with city-procured vaccines,” she said.
The initial batches of the one million vaccines purchased by the city are expected to arrive this month.
“These past months, we have been going out of our way to boost the registration rate of Bakuna Makati among target groups. We want to make sure we will have enough people to vaccinate every time we get a partial delivery on the one million doses we purchased, and receive supplies from the national government,” said Binay.
To achieve herd immunity, the city must fully vaccinate around 430,000 individuals or 70 percent of the city’s estimated population in 2020. At two doses per individual, the city-procured vaccines will cover 500,000, both residents and transient workers, the mayor said.
Last July 23, the city started its House to House (H2H) vaccination drive for bedridden residents using the single-dose Janssen COVID-19 vaccine. The first 10 elderly residents served by the H2H vaccination team are residents of barangays Cembo, Olympia, Sta. Cruz, and Valenzuela.
To date, some 11,750 doses of Janssen have been administered to senior citizens and persons with comorbidities in the city.
The city has also established satellite registration sites and a drive-thru vaccination site, and sustained an aggressive social media campaign.
