MANILA, Philippines — Manila City Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso said Friday he will be among the first to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to help increase the confidence of his constituents in vaccines against the new coronavirus.
Moreno said his vaccination will also be done in public.
“We made that commitment a few months ago. Gagawin namin ‘yun sa harap ng tao. Sabi ko nga para lang mabawasan kung mababawasan ba [ang pagdududa sa vaccines], papaturok ako ng bagay na ipapaturok ko sa kanila, so para naman kahit papaano, makita nila ‘yung purpose. This is about safety,” he said in an interview with ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo when asked if he will be among the first in the city to be inoculated against Covid-19.
(We made that commitment a few months ago. We will do that in public so that their doubts on the vaccines may be reduced and so that they could see the purpose of the vaccination. This is about safety.)
Moreno earlier said that public school teachers are also included in the city’s list of people who will be prioritized in the Covid-19 vaccination.
The city government has been conducting simulations of the vaccination to address concerns that may arise in the inoculation program.
For the actual vaccination, he said the local government unit (LGU) is capable of deploying 60 teams of vaccinators but added that they are only targeting to field 15 to 18 teams. The team, according to the mayor, is composed of public health workers, nurses, and doctors.
He added that the vaccination in Manila City will be done seven days a week.
“Walang pahinga kapag dumating ang bakuna. Seven days a week hanggang meron kaming stock sa storage facility. As soon as possible gusto namin maibakuna agad sa tao because time is of the essence for the safety of the people and para hindi kami mabulunan pagdating ng bakuna,” he said.
(We will not stop vaccinations once the vaccines arrive. Seven days a week, we will conduct the vaccination as long as we have stock in the storage facility. As soon as possible, we want to vaccinate the people immediately because time is of the essence for their safety, and so that we will not be overwhelmed once the vaccines arrive.)
RELATED STORIES
Manila City gov’t signs deal for COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca
Manila gov’t wants to acquire 400,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines