Olongapo gets ready to vaccinate minors vs COVID-19

GETTING THE SHOT More Olongapo City residents are getting inoculated on Friday against COVID-19 at SMX Convention Center. —PHOTO COURTESY OF THE OLONGAPO CITY INFORMATION OFFICE

OLONGAPO CITY—The city government here has started lining up minors from age 12 to 17 years old to receive the coronavirus vaccine.

The local interagency task force is preparing to set up an exclusive vaccine site for this age group, which has been classified as vulnerable in light of the extremely contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), officials said on Saturday.

An online registration platform for the age group is currently being prepared, as current data has yet to establish how many 12 to 17-year-old Olongapo residents will benefit from the inoculations against COVID-19.

The city government has not yet selected a site for the vaccination center designed for minors.

“We are looking at the SMX [Convention Center of SM Olongapo Central] since that venue has already been approved for vaccination. We are just waiting for the go signal [from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases] to vaccinate minors,” Mayor Rolen Paulino Jr. said in a text message.

SMX has served as the city’s main vaccination site.

The city’s COVID-19 Task Force has yet to decide whether children younger than 12 years old will be eligible to receive the vaccine, which has been given to adults and senior citizens from the time the government rolled out its inoculation drive in March.

To date, the city has vaccinated 76,385 healthcare workers, elderly residents, residents with comorbidities, essential workers, and indigent residents.

Since the pandemic broke out last year, a total of 4,997 patients have been treated in Olongapo, 768 of whom were active cases as of Saturday, 3,985 have recovered and 244 had died.

Throughout Zambales province, 143,335 residents have been given their vaccines, 65,830 of whom were fully vaccinated. The province needs to vaccinate 413,000 people, or 70 percent, of its 590,800 population to achieve herd immunity.

The province recorded 57 new cases on Sunday, bringing its total to 1,073 active cases, according to the provincial health office.

Zambales’ tally of total cases has gone up to 8,239 since the pandemic struck last year, 317 of whom had died. But 7,149 of these patients have recovered. INQ