OVP, QC to vaccinate 5,000 members of transport sectors in drive thru initiative

FILE PHOTO: Delivery riders, motorcycle and tricycle drivers receive their vaccine at the Vaccine Express, a drive thru inoculation program by the Office of the Vice President and the City government of Manila at the CCP complex in Malate, Manila on June 23, 2021. Niño Jesus Orbeta/Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo’s office and the Quezon City local government unit (LGU) are aiming to vaccinate at least 5,000 members of transport sector organizations from Thursday to Friday.

According to the Office of the Vice President (OVP), the Vaccine Express partnership with Quezon City covers pre-registered members of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association (JODA), Tricycle Operators and Drivers Association (TODA), and delivery riders who are qualified under Priority Group A4 as per Department of Health (DOH) guidelines.

The OVP said only those who are pre-registered with the city government can proceed to the Robinsons Novaliches parking area for vaccination, as no walk-in privilege would be allowed.

Vaccinations would start at 7 a.m.

In line with OVP’s principle of rewarding those who would have themselves tested for COVID-19 and those who would get vaccinated against the disease, incentives would be given to those who would participate in the Vaccine Express program.

As an incentive, those who will be vaccinated will be given the following:

• Post-vaccination care kit (50 pcs. masks, 10 pcs. paracetamol, 30 pcs. Vitamin C, 2 bottles of water)
• Gift certificate from Puregold worth P500.00
• Various Pioneer Adhesives products
• Various items from JCI Manila and JCI partners
• Lubricants from Unioil Petroleum Philippines, Inc.
• Bottled drinks from Fruitas Holdings Incorporated and Mate Mate

The Vaccine Express is an OVP initiative in partnership with various local governments.  What happens, OVP spokesperson Barry Gutierrez said before, is that Robredo’s team would provide the concept of drive thru vaccinations and then partner with a city in distributing the vaccines to frontline workers and those in the transport industry.

The first Vaccine Express was done with Manila, wherein 4,599 individuals got vaccinated with the first dose and 2,979 second doses.  So far, OVP has partnered with Naga and Iriga in Camarines Sur, administering 6,719 doses and 6,102 doses, respectively.

The government is currently banking on vaccinations against COVID-19 to usher in herd immunity and combat the current uptick in infections, believed to be caused by the Delta variant.

Experts say that the Delta is more contagious than the Alpha variant, which caused the last surge in the country in March 2021.  During the Alpha variant-led surge, the country saw its active case count reaching at least 203,000.

As of Wednesday, the Department of Health (DOH) recorded 12,021 new COVID-19 infections — the highest in four months, or since that surge from March 2021 to May 2021.

This is only lower than the 15,310 new cases recorded last April 2, although that count also includes 3,709 case backlogs.

Active cases are now at 81,399, which represents 4.8 percent of all the confirmed cases which stands at 1,688,040.  Of this count, 1,577,267 are recoveries, while 29,374 are deaths.

READ: PH logs highest COVID cases in four months with 12,021 new infections |Highest number ever: PH logs 15,310 new COVID-19 cases 

JPV