2-dose COVID vaccines pose challenge to Navotas’ home vax program

FILE PHOTO: Vials labelled “Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine” are seen in this illustration picture taken May 2, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic//File Photo

MANILA, Philippines — The use of two-dose COVID-19 vaccines poses a challenge to the home vaccination program of Navotas City,  Mayor Toby Tiangco said.

“‘Yung house-to-house vaccination effective lang siya ‘pag Janssen. Kasi, imagine, ang hirap naman balikan ulit nung iha-house-to-house vaccination,” Tiangco explained on INQside Look on Monday.

(The house-to-house vaccination is only effective with Janssen. Imagine, it is difficult to go back house-to-house for the second dose.)

Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine is administered as a single dose.

Tiangco added that a vaccination team is only able to vaccinate 100 individuals through its house-to-house immunization, which is significantly lower compared to an on-site inoculation.

“If you will imagine, a team, isang team ‘pag nag-house-to-house vaccination ‘yan, 100 lang ang kaya nilang bakunahan sa isang araw. Pero kung sila ay nasa vaccination site, kaya nila ng 600 to 700 kung walang walk-in, kaya nila hanggang 1,000 kung may walk-in,” Tiangco shared.

(If you will imagine, a team can only vaccinate 100 individuals per day through house-to-house vaccination. But, if they are in a vaccination site, they can inoculate 600 to 700 people if there is no walk-in, and up to 1,000 if there is walk-in.)

The city government earlier conducted home vaccinations of bedridden residents, most of whom are senior citizens. However, they stopped it due to limited staff.

Tiangco said senior citizens are reluctant to get COVID-19 vaccine shots.

“Pangalan na ang hinahanap namin for senior citizen para pupuntahan talaga siya dun sa bahay… Tapos papaliwanagan, baka naman makumbinsi kasi iba ‘yung pagpaliwanag publicly, iba ang personal ang approach doon sa ayaw magpabakuna,” the mayor noted.

(We now identify senior citizens and visit their houses… We then explain to them, maybe they will be convinced because there is a difference in explaining publicly and personally.)

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