File photo shows the COVID-19 vaccination of Makati City residents at the Makati Coliseum. (Image from Facebook / MyMakati)
MANILA, Philippines— Some 30,000 volunteers have so far signed up to lend a hand in the government’s three-day national COVID-19 vaccination drive from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1, according to the Department of Health (DOH).
“We have around 30,000 who have already volunteered and are being matched to their local government units. Some will actually be coming from the NCR (National Capital Region) at mag-tatravel palabas pero siyempre, (and will travel outside the capital but) we will want to need more,” Dr. Beverly Ho, concurrent Director IV of the Health Promotion Bureau and the Disease Prevention and Control Bureau said on Saturday.
The DOH earlier said it is targeting 160,000 volunteer health-care workers who will be deployed across the country for the campaign.
Ilocos Norte residents receive COVID-19 vaccines in a mega vaccination facility in Laoag City. )Photo courtesy of Ilocos Norte provincial government)
“Marami po kasing nagtatanong kung kailangan medical background ba bago ka pwede mag-volunteer so ang sagot po natin doon ay hindi kasi we actually need educators, ‘yung mga tumutulong po iregister at tumutulong din po na mag-orient or magobserve dun sa mga sites natin to help traffic at encoders,” Ho said.
(“There are a lot of people asking if volunteers are required to have a medical background. Our answer is no. We actually need educators, those who can help during the registration process, volunteers willing to give orientations or observe sites, and encoders.”)
Interested volunteers can access the registration form through this link.
The National Task Force Against COVID-19 (NTF COVID-19) and the National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC) has separately announced that the government is lowering the target output for its national vaccination drive to nine million jabs from the initial 15 million jabs, following a shortage in ancillary supplies and other logistical challenges.