THE Davao City government is not yet planning to set up night vaccination exclusively for workers under the A4 priority group, despite some appeals.
Covid-19 Task Force spokesperson Dr. Michelle Schlosser said in a radio interview on Friday, July 9, that while the city is considering it, she said they are unable to conduct a night vaccination due to the limited number of manpower to supervise it.
She added that this won't be healthy for frontliners.
"We have not denied the possibility pero I think it is not healthy to have the vaccination 24 hours kay our workers needs to rest as well. At the same time, kung dili well rested ang atong tighatag og vaccine, it would lower their immune system and it could lead to sickness. Di nato na gusto na ing-ana mahitabo sa atong workers," Schlosser said.
She said it is the responsibility of the employers to allow their employees to be vaccinated during office hours. But this will depend on the internal arrangement of the company.
"What we can do, with this po is to really arrange that with their employer, kay ano mana responsibility po yan ng employer natin to have, to let them be vaccinated (it is the responsibility of the employer to let them be vaccinated)," Schlosser said.
She added that it won't take long for them to line up at the vaccine sites.
She also said some vaccination sites still conduct vaccine rollouts on weekends to cater those employees who cannot make it during office hours.
Earlier, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio also said the city is not planning to have a night-time vaccination rollout for now.
"The main concern with the night-time vaccination is number one, ang kakayahan sa atoang personnel nga mag-24-hour shifting sa vaccination center, and ang kakayahan sa atoang public transportation kung duna bay available para sa tao ana (the capacity of our personnel to conduct 24-hour shifting in vaccination center, and the capacity of our public transportation if there are available vehicles for these people)," Duterte-Carpio said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio on June 21.
Councilor Pamela Librado-Morata filed on Tuesday, June 29, filed a resolution calling for the immediate vaccination of workers under Priority Group A4 category and installing vaccination hubs for economic frontliners.
Librado-Morata also called for the city government to open up an express lane for A4 workers, and nighttime vaccination, similar to the Quezon City Government, wherein they launched a program to inoculate workers even after office hours.
However, Covid-19 Vaccine Cluster head Dr. Josephine said there is no need to establish an express lane for A4 workers.
Villafuerte admitted having a vaccination at night is not viable for now because of the limited number of vaccines allocated in the city and limited workers who will administer the vaccine.
According to the Davao City Vaccination Cluster as of June 28, as of July 7, 2021, a total of 55,717 individuals were fully vaccinated and 261,751 individuals were vaccinated on their first dose.
The city government is currently inoculating the Priority A1 group are workers in frontline health services, A2 are the senior citizens, A3 are persons with comorbidities, A4 are frontline personnel in essential sectors (including uniformed personnel), and A5 are the indigent population (including indigenous peoples and 4Ps beneficiaries). RGL with Dolly Joy Hallarsis and Laizelle Joy Labajo, NDDU Intern
