Mayors in the National Capital Region agreed to make the vaccination of “tiangge” (flea market) workers and owners mandatory, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman Benhur Abalos said on Monday.
“Since tiangges are seasonal and often last for only two months and sellers come from different areas, it is only proper to require them to be vaccinated,” he said of the tiangge and pop-up night markets popular during the holidays, adding it was for the safety of the public.
Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB, Abalos pointed out that people in tiangges came from different places and are only seasonal visitors, which means contact tracing would be a challenge.
The agreement came as the government aims to launch a National Vaccination Day at end-November to inoculate five million Filipinos.
The three-day event, set to coincide with National Heroes’ Day on Nov. 30 to honor medical frontliners, is part of the national government’s aggressive efforts to achieve population protection by December.
The government also remains optimistic in achieving its target of administering more than one million COVID-19 doses daily by employing different strategies to scale up the vaccination output of local government units.
“The President’s directives are clear — increase LGUs’ capacities, ramp up vaccination, mobilize all government assets, and impose sanctions, if necessary,” said NTF chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr.
“All of these were discussed with local chief executives, together with the support they require from the national government. Bayanihan pa rin ito. Sisiguruhin natin na walang maiiwan at wala tayong iiwanan,” Galvez added.
Meanwhile, another shipment of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport last weekend.
Lawyer Wilben Mayor, of the National Task Force Against COVID-19 strategic communications group, thanked the United States government for facilitating the delivery of the additional 866,970 doses of Pfizer procured by the national government.
“These are very helpful doses for us, for the lives of the Filipinos,” Mayor said following the shipment’s arrival.
With the latest shipment, the Philippines has received a total 1,733,940 Pfizer vaccine doses for two consecutive days.
As of Nov. 7, a total 110,646,500 doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been delivered to the country since February.
Last week, key officials of the Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the Department of Interior and Local Government, and the NTF met with provincial and city chief executives and discussed strategies that need to be implemented to achieve the country’s vaccination coverage target.
“All resources of the government will be mobilized to achieve our goal, and these will be complemented by our private sector partners. Because at the end of the day, we share a common vision, and that is, to protect lives and ensure the sustainable reopening of the Philippine economy,” Galvez said.
He noted that while the focus of the current vaccination rollout would be residents of key cities, provinces, and those areas with a high level of economic activity, the national government would provide support to all regions.
“We will activate more vaccination sites and ensure that LGUs will bring in their residents to these sites to get inoculated. We will also strengthen the coordination between the DOTr and LGUs that have geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas and communities to fast track the deployment of vaccines,” Galvez said.
“We are looking at addressing all challenges collectively with all levels of government, including private citizens and organizations working together,” he added.
According to Galvez, barangay officials would begin to map out the residents of their respective communities who are yet to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and bring them to vaccination sites.
Employees of national government agencies will also be trained so they can help augment the vaccinators of LGUs.
Civil society and non-government organizations will also be requested to serve as volunteers in vaccination sites, while religious leaders will be tapped to encourage their parishioners to get the COVID-19 jab.
In related developments:
* The Department of Health said a total of 230,357 minors had been vaccinated against COVID-19 under the pediatric inoculation program.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, in a press conference, said this was based on the tally of the National COVID-19 Vaccination Operations Center.
“We were already able to inoculate among the pediatric population, 230,357,” Vergeire said.
Of the total, Vergeire said only 0.10 percent experienced expected temporary reactions mostly were pain in the vaccination site, headache, and dizziness.
There are 12.7 million children aged 12 to 17 in the country. The DOH said the government was seeking to vaccinate 80 percent or around 10 million of minors aged 12 to 17 by December 2021.
Only Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been authorized for pediatric vaccinations in the country.
* House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco said the government’s aggressive mass vaccination strategy was paying off as the rate of infection dramatically goes down not only in Metro Manila but the entire country.
In his speech during the first flag-raising ceremony in the House of Representatives in almost eight months, Velasco said the country’s current COVID-19 situation had improved remarkably compared to previous months, thanks to the government’s aggressive vaccination rollout.
“The skies are bluer after the storm. The light is brighter after going through a dark tunnel. And even if we are not officially ‘out of the woods’ yet and may have to live with COVID-19 for quite a while, it would seem that the government strategy of aggressive mass vaccination has dramatically brought down the number of mortalities and severe and critical cases of COVID in the country,” Velasco said.