Teodoro creates task force to oversee COVID-19 vaccination drive

Marikina Mayor Marcy Teodoro, Vice Mayor Marion Andres at City Health Officer Dr. Alberto Hererra inspect the cold storage facility for COVID-19 vaccines at the Marikina City Health Office.

MANILA, Philippines — Marikina Mayor Marcelino Teodoro has signed an executive order (EO) creating a task force that would supervise the city government’s COVID-19 vaccination program.

EO No. 1 series of 2021 aimed to build the Marikina City COVID-19 Vaccination Task Force, which will ensure an effective and safe immunization program for city residents against the coronavirus.

“Mayor Marcy signed Executive Order (EO) No. 1, Series of 2021 for the creation of Marikina’s vaccination task force in a bid to provide residents with an efficient and effective inoculation drive against the dreaded disease,” a statement from the city hall read.

The task force would have several functions, including the assessment of vaccines to be procured, evaluating who should be prioritized, up to the procurement and handling of the vials.

“To provide residents with an efficient and effective vaccination program, Mayor Marcelino ‘Marcy’ Teodoro created the Marikina City COVID-19 Vaccination Task Force in preparation for the citywide rollout of the much-anticipated vaccine,” a statement from the city said.

Specifically, the EO has laid out eight functions of the task force:
– vaccine assessment
– profiling and selection of vaccine recipients
– acquisition and procurement of COVID-19 vaccines
– storage and handling
– administration of doses
– vaccination program communication
– case monitoring
– COVID-19 vaccination program monitoring

Teodoro himself would be the task force’s chairperson, while Vice Mayor Marion Andres will be a co-chairperson.

“For the assessment of the vaccines to ensure their safety and effectiveness, the team will be also made up of practicing medical professionals with expertise in pulmonology, virology, oncology, cardiology, molecular biology, and infectious diseases,” the city said.

“The members of the vaccination task force will be also composed of city department heads and other city officials,” it added.

On Wednesday, Teodoro announced that Marikina’s mega vaccination facility, to be set up at the Marikina Sports Complex which sits near the city hall, would be capable of administering shots to 10,000 persons per day.

“We will open the Marikina City Mega Vaccination Facility that can administer COVID-19 vaccine to around 10, 000 people per day,” Teodoro said. “We can vaccinate 10, 000 people in a day because we have 10 vaccination station at our mega vaccination facility here in the Marikina Sports Complex.”

While Marikina has been hailed as one of the Metro Manila cities that exhibited resilience towards the COVID-19 pandemic, the city recently saw an increase in the number of coronavirus-infected patients.

The local government hopes the vaccines — which may arrive by February or March — can slow down transmissions.  As of now, Marikina has 7,581 confirmed COVID-19 cases, of which 451 are considered active while 6,965 have recovered, and 165 have died.

EDV