Bacolod holds successful Covid-19 vaccination dry run

BACOLOD CITY — The first government dry run for the mass Covid-19 vaccination in this city met the standards of the Department of Health (DOH).

Dr. Chris Sorongon, Bacolod Emergency Operations Center deputy for medical data and analysis, said at least 50 volunteers joined the dry run and were injected with tetanus toxoid vaccines to protect them from tetanus at the Barangay Villamonte gym in Bacolod City on Friday.

It took 8 to 10 minutes for each volunteer to be vaccinated from the time of entry into the gym which was  faster than the DOH  projected time of 17 minutes.

There were 80 to 90 personnel at the mass vaccination activity which were observed by DOH representatives.

“The simulation  is a DOH requirement, and we wanted to identify strengths and weaknesses of our vaccination procedures,”  Sorongon said.

Bacolod City has identified 25 vaccination centers but may increase the number as private school officials have offered the use of their gyms.

The AstraZeneca vaccines purchased by the Bacolod City government are  expected to arrive at the end of August or early September.

However, Sorongon said the vaccines to be provided by the national government  could  arrive by the end of this month.

Sorongon said more vaccination dry runs will be held, which will also boost the confidence of the people in the city government’s vaccination program.

JPV