‘Unruly’ crowd swarms vax site in Olongapo City

Olongapo City residents flock to Columban College to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as the city government and local establishments began banning unvaccinated individuals. (Contributed photo)

OLONGAPO CITY––Residents wanting to get vaccinated against COVID-19 trooped to one of the vaccination sites in this city on Monday (Jan. 11) as soon the local government announced that it was banning the entry of unvaccinated travelers.

Hundreds of the residents, who were seen ignoring the physical distancing rule, gathered in front of the Columban College to ask for stubs, according to authorities.

A video circulating on Facebook showed that the residents were also heard screaming as they scrambled to get a slot in a scheduled mass vaccination in the area. Some netizens described the crowd as “unruly.”

Earlier that day, Mayor Rolen Paulino Jr. announced that he was prohibiting non-residents who are unvaccinated against COVID-19.

The move came amid a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases in the city, which is under Alert Level 3.

Some establishments, such as grocery stores, have also started requiring vaccine cards from their customers.

On Monday, 63 new cases were added to the city’s COVID-19 tally, bringing to 202 its active infections. Most of the infected patients were vaccinated fully against the viral disease.

Since 2020, the city has recorded 5,660 COVID-19 cases with 5,141 recoveries and 317 deaths.

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