As the target date for the country’s vaccine rollout draws near, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos Jr. is planning to convert the 800-square-meter quarantine facility of the agency into a Covid-19 vaccination center to help expedite the distribution and administration of the vaccines once available.
Abalos said that the plan to open a national vaccination center that will help the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) on its plan to rollout the vaccination program next month.
“The MMDA quarantine facility is open for any national government agency that needs a place to efficiently roll out the anti-Covid-19 vaccination program. We are always willing to lend assistance to stop the transmission of the disease at the soonest time possible so we can go back to normal again,” Abalos said.
Abalos also said that the agency will assist Metro Manila local government units on vaccine logistics and equipment for quick mobility across the National Capital Region.
San Juan
In San Juan, the local government has conducted another Covid-19 vaccine simulation on Friday. This was the third simulation conducted by the city which run the process from storage to vaccination and post-vaccination observation.
The simulations were conducted to familiarize health-care workers who were recently trained by the Department of Health (DOH) and complete a time and motion study to improve the vaccination process flow and increase efficiency.
In its first two simulations, it took 20 minutes for an individual to get inoculated from registration.
“We aim to lessen our processing time so we can vaccinate as many San Juaneños in a day. So we plan to help several more simulations so we can better identify which areas need to improve,” Mayor Francis Zamora said.
He will also show the storage facility for the conventional vaccine that the city purchased which need only 2 to 8C storage temperature.
The city government has prepared several conventional freezers, which have already been installed at the San Juan Gym, one of the primary vaccination centers of San Juan City. The gym is right beside the San Juan Medical Center.
Aside from the initial order of 100,000 doses of AstraZeneca, the national government also announced during a Metro Manila Council meeting with National Task Force against Covid-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Sec. Carlito Galvez that they will also be distributing Pfizer-made Covid-19 vaccines to different cities.
“We will no longer buy cold storage for the Pfizer vaccines, instead, we are renting because this will be more cost-efficient for our city,” Zamora said. The Pfizer-made vaccine requires a -70C storage temperature for it to remain viable.
As of January 20, 2021, there were 15,430 San Juaneños who have registered for the Covid-19 vaccination in San Juan City. San Juaneños may register online or manually, through their barangay halls and health centers.
Mandaluyong
The Mandaluyong City government also held a simulation of its own vaccination process last Tuesday, January 19, 2021 by setting up a vaccination center at the Pedro P. Cruz Elementary School in Barangay Barangka Drive to benchmark the local government’s own Covid-19 vaccination drive. The six-step process also serves as a guide to health workers in administering the vaccines to residents.
Mayor Carmelita “Menchie” Abalos said that the City Health Office will make sure that health workers who will be assigned in all vaccination centers it will put up in the future are free from Covid-19 by subjecting them to regular RT-PCR tests before they go on duty.
The local government’s vaccination process is estimated to run for about 12 minutes. However, an observation time of at least 30 minutes is required for each vaccinated individual before he/she is allowed to go home.
Those who pre-registered for vaccination must go to the vaccination center on the schedule given to them. Each site will have a waiting area for the scheduled recipients before proceeding to the registration area where they will show their ID and QR Code and will be issued a vaccination card along with a consent form to be signed by the recipient of the vaccine.
Then, they will undergo a five-minute briefing about the vaccine and its effects at the counselling area. A vaccination staff is also available to entertain any questions about the vaccine and the vaccination process.
A medical staff at the screening area will then conduct a physical checkup on the vaccine recipient to ensure that he/she is in good shape.
The vaccination card will be marked “Approved” by the attending physician and only then the person will be administered with the vaccine at the vaccination area.
All vaccinated individuals will have to stay in an observation area to be monitored by medical personnel for 30 minutes to an hour. This stage of the vaccination process, as mandated by the DOH, ensures that the vaccinated person will get immediate medical attention should any “unusual reaction” manifests.
The city government will also provide an ambulance on stand-by at all the vaccination centers to transport to the hospital any person who may experience “adverse reactions” to the vaccine.
All vaccination centers will have a public information desk, first-aid station, storage and supply area, and food station.
Abalos reminded everyone that the Covid-19 vaccination is free and voluntary to any Mandaluyong resident.