Manila halts all vaccinations due to online ‘technical problems’

Manila Mayor Isko Moreno inspects the 336 bed COVID-19 Field Hospital built temporarily at the Luneta park, which will accommodate mild to moderate COVID-19 patients. INQUIRER file photo / Marianne Bermudez

MANILA, Philippines — The city of Manila declared all vaccination sites closed on Wednesday afternoon due to “technical problems” in the city’s online vaccination system.

“The Manila Health Department (MHD) has shut down all vaccination operations after technical problems were reported in the city government’s online vaccination system,” the city’s local government said through a statement.

Because of this, all vaccination sites, for both doses of vaccines, have been declared closed starting 4:00 p.m. Wednesday.

The cause of the system’s failure is not yet clear. According to MHD chief Dr. Arnold Pangan, the reported problems in the online vaccination system are currently being investigated.

At least 19,000 flocked Manila’s vaccination sites earlier this month, prompting the local government to close down its sites to avoid mass COVID transmission.

Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso, even claimed that before the attack,  the city’s website was attacked 133 times by hackers.

The national government itself tagged the incident as a “sabotage” against the government’s vaccination drive.

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