Villanueva: Consider house-to-house vaccination, ‘drive-thru’ centers for seniors

EARLY RECIPIENTS Senior citizens in Parañaque City are inoculated with the CoronaVac vaccine at a shopping mall near Manila Bay on Friday. —RICHARD A. REYES

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Joel Villanueva on Friday urged the government to consider house-to-house and drive-thru vaccination for senior citizens who are the “most at-risk” of contracting the coronavirus.

“Some are sick or are physically incapacitated. For these people, a drive-thru system where they can remain in the comfort of their vehicles would be a good idea,” Villanueva said in a statement.

“If they cannot go to the vaccines, let the vaccines come to them,” he added.

The senator said many seniors have no one to accompany them to vaccination centers and seniors cannot do online booking for vaccinations as most of them either do not have access to the internet or are not knowledgeable in using the computer.

“Kapag drive-thru, pwede tricycle o kaya pedicab. Mas mabuti naman po iyon kumpara sa ilang oras kang nakasakay sa monobloc,” he suggested.

(If drive-thru, they can use a tricycle or a pedicab. That’s better compared to how many hours they spent on the monobloc.)

Villanueva said if more seniors remain vulnerable to COVID-19, the risk of them getting the virus and ending up in the hospital will further exert more pressure on “our already overstretched public health system.”

Cities of Taguig and Manila have rolled out their home service vaccination for bedridden residents. –Liezelle Soriano Roy, Trainee

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EDV