Davao City eyes giving out gift certificates, food items to entice people to get vaccinated

FILE PHOTO: Public school teachers receive Sinovac jab during COVID-19 vaccination effort of the City Government of Manila on Tuesday, April 13, 2021, at Palacio de Maynila, Roxas Boulevard. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

DAVAO CITY – The city government here is eyeing to give out food items, gift certificates and other incentives to entice more people to get vaccinated.

Mayor Sara Duterte said this would help the city meet its 1.2 million targeted number of vaccinated individuals necessary to achieve herd immunity in this city.

Duterte, however, did not yet specify what particular incentives the city government would give out although she said these would be prioritized to people who had to go out of their houses to earn a living, hence, would be at risk of contracting the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

“There were suggestions earlier (during the meeting of city government officials) on how to entice people to take the vaccines (so that the target is achieved),” she said.

“It is understandable that incentives (are needed) because people are having difficulty,” she said, referring to food items and gift certificates that would attract people to the vaccination centers.

The city government plans to go over the remaining 438,000 individuals who have yet to take the first dose of the vaccine, the 762,000 others who still have to take their second dose and 503,000 who are fully vaccinated.

She said the city also planned to expand the mobile vaccinations it recently launched to serve those who had difficulty going to the vaccination sites, including the elderly and persons with comorbidities.

The city government earlier initiated vaccinations at night to cater to those who were working by day and had no time to go to the vaccination sites. As a result, the city’s night time vaccination already served 500 people as of Thursday, Sept. 23, said Dr. Michelle Schlosser, COVID-19 Task Force spokesperson.

Sara, however, said she would leave it to the Inter Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to decide on her suggestion for the country to buy more Western vaccines like Pfizer and Moderna after residents here showed reluctance in taking Chinese-made vaccines.

Earlier, the mayor requested the national government to buy more vaccines from Western countries because city residents preferred these vaccines.

But Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said there were not enough Western vaccines bound for countries like the Philippines. Carmelito Francisco, Inquirer Mindanao

JPV