Tricycle and jeepney drivers make a quick stop at the Vaccine Express, a drive thru vaccination initiative by the Office of the Vice President and the Quezon City local government at Robinsons Mall Novaliches parking lot on August 12. (INQUIRER file photo / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE)
MANILA, Philippines — The Quezon City government has administered almost half a million COVID-19 vaccine doses during the two-week enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila.
From August 6 to 20, the city, through its QCProtekTodo Vaccination Program, has administered a total of 493,000 doses (415,923 as first dose; 77,077 second dose) to individuals under the A1 to A5 priority groups.
“Every vaccine we jab is a life we save. So we made full use of all our registration processes – barangay-assisted, QCVaxEasy Portal, company-assisted, homeowners association-assisted and bakuna nights to reach our target individuals and vaccinate them during the heightened quarantine period when we were given an increased and stable supply of vaccines,” Mayor Joy Belmonte said in a statement.
Of Quezon City’s 1.7 million target population, 86.36 percent or 1.4 million individuals have received the first dose while 42.06 percent or 675,000 individuals are fully immunized as of August 21.
Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA)
The city government has administered a total of 2,143,698 vaccine doses as of Saturday. It also averaged 200,000 vaccinations per week.
Belmonte recognized the efforts of those involved in the vaccination rollout including the national government.
“The national government recognizes that Quezon City has the largest city population in the entire country and cumulatively, the most number of cases. With that, they continue to support our vaccination program by providing an appropriate number of vaccine doses to us,” she said.
Quezon City’s Task Force Vax to Normal co-chairman Joseph Juico said that more inoculation sites were opened to expedite vaccination.
“Our goal is to vaccinate at the quickest possible time that is why we have been expanding our efforts by partnering with different organizations and opening 40-50 vaccination sites in a day,” Juico said.
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