Less than half of registered elderly vaccinated vs Covid-19 in Mandaue

ONLY 21 percent of senior citizens in Mandaue City who are registered in the master list for vaccination against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) have received the jab.

That amounts to almost 7,000 senior citizens, according to August Lizer Malate, head of the City’s Emergency Operations Center.

With cases gradually increasing, Malate said it is best to intensify the vaccination program for senior citizens, considering they are members of a vulnerable sector.

On Wednesday, July 14, 2021, the Department of Health (DOH) reported that Mandaue City had 370 active cases. A month before on June 14, the city logged just 170 active cases.

Melinda Bihag, president of the Office of the Senior Citizen Association, said they assume senior citizens are afraid to get inoculated despite the City Government’s information campaign that the vaccines are safe.

Some senior citizens want to choose the vaccine brand that will be administered to them, she said.

The City has been using Sinovac, AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines in its vaccine rollout.

However, the DOH has announced that doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will arrive this month and these will be administered to senior citizens only.

With this development, Bihag said senior citizens no longer have any reason not to show up for their scheduled injection.

And since the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a one-dose vaccine, senior citizens don’t need to return for a second injection, she said.

On Thursday, July 15, the Mandaue City Vaccination Operations Center opened its fifth vaccination site on the second floor of Parkmall.

Debra Catulong, medical officer of the City Health Office, said the site will cater only to employees and tenants of Parkmall during its first two days of operation.

She said on Monday, June 19, the site will be officially open to the public.

Nealson Carlson Co, general manager of Parkmall, said they offered a 2,000-square-meter space in the mall to help the City with its vaccination efforts.

He said they have been encouraging their tenants and workers to get vaccinated during the two-day dry run.

The Parkmall vaccination site is the biggest among the five vaccination sites in the city. It can accommodate up to 1,400 persons a day.

Its opening will help fast-track the vaccination in the city, said Catulong, who urged the public to register first and wait to be contacted with their schedule before going to any vaccination site.

Meanwhile, Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, spokesperson of the Visayas Covid-19 Vaccination Operations Center, said the region received an additional 16,400 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine on July 14.

The doses will be administered as first and second doses to 7,150 employees of local government units and 1,050 employees of nongovernment agencies (NGAs).

Loreche said Cebu City has been allocated 2,600 doses; Mandaue City, 3,300 doses; Minglanilla, 1,000 doses; Lapu-Lapu City, 2,300 doses; City of Naga, 1,500 doses; Talisay City, 2,600 doses; and Consolacion, 1,000 doses.

The remaining 2,100 doses are allocated for employees of NGAs.

Of all the doses administered in Cebu, the Project Balik Buhay (PBB) vaccination initiative (a public-private initiative) was responsible for 98,804 doses.

Of these, 68,706 were administered as first doses, while 30,098 were administered as second doses.

A total of 34,509 doses (first and second doses) were administered in Cebu City; 46,625 in Mandaue City; 9,102 in Lapu-Lapu City; and 7,568 doses in Cebu Province.

The PBB continues to accept company and organization registration or application until July 31.

Across Central Visayas, including Cebu, 198,137 individuals (88,392 health care workers, 49,097 senior citizens and 60,648 persons with comorbidities) have received their two doses, while 327,170 are waiting for their second dose.

A total of 12,222 families of health care workers have also received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. (KFD, WBS)