THE Department of Health (DOH) 7 on Friday, May 14, 2021, announced that a total of 6,861 employees (health care workers, senior citizens, and those with comorbidities) have already received the Covid-19 vaccine under the Project Balik Buhay (PBB) vaccination initiative.
PBB chairman for the private sector Edmun Liu said a total of 114,971 employees from 1,921 companies in Cebu have registered to be vaccinated under the program.
These employees belong to priority groups A1 to C (health care workers, senior citizens, individuals with comorbidities and essential workers, among others).
Liu gave the report during the overall assessment for the cascading of the Visayas Vaccination Manuals in the entire Visayas on Saturday, May 15.
Frances Dominique Alfafara, PBB volunteer, said each company was asked to submit a statement of management responsibility stating that all of the registered employees had given consent to be vaccinated and were not registered in any other vaccination programs.
She said the registration for the PBB vaccination ended on April 30, but they are still accepting new batches of employees on the condition that they are from the existing database of registered companies.
She said the turnout from the private sector was “very positive.”
She said they are also reviewing the registration to ensure they did not miss any company that registered before the deadline.
Aside from local government unit partners, the PBB has received offers from 20 private institutions in Cebu to become community vaccination sites.
Seven are already operating: Chong Hua Hospital-Mandaue City, University of Cebu Medical Center, Mendero Medical Center, Allegiant Regional Care Hospital in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu Doctors’ University Hospital and Visayas Community Medical Center.
The DOH 7 said the critical care utilization rate of private hospitals in Cebu is 13.3 percent, which means that only 115 of the 862 dedicated Covid beds are occupied.
Cebu City has 558 active Covid-19 cases, while Cebu Province has 546 active cases, as of Friday. (WBS)