The city’s COVID-19 Vaccination Program head Dr. Josephine Villafuerte said they already dissolved its vaccination cluster.
She said mobile vaccinations and vaccination hubs in malls had ceased operations, relegating the immunization campaign to the city’s 18 district health centers.
“Nagclose na mi atong December 30 apan tanan vaccination activity gi-endorse na namo sa City Health Office para himuon na sa kada district health offices,” Villafuerte said in a report from the City Information Office.
Villafuerte said since the city has already reached 100 percent vaccination rate and has only little work left to do in terms of administering booster shots to the pediatric demographic, dissolving the vaccination cluster is only pragmatic.
Though the city’s vaccination cluster will no longer be carrying out vaccination drives, its function as a vaxx certificate issuer will remain.
Vaxx certificates are still being issued in the Santa Ana health center where the swabbing center was also recently closed to make room for the center’s intended function as a specialized health clinic for the elderly, children under five years old, and as a milk bank.
She said some malls will also be housing vaxx certificate centers. Vaxx cert issuance remains a function of the vaccination program as the document still serves as a travel requirement.
Though the city’s vaccination cluster is now dissolved, this does not mean the vaccination campaign will cease, Villafuerte said, especially since the vaccine has effectively reinforced the population’s immune system against the virus, rendering vaccinated patients with only “very mild” symptoms when infected.
The district health centers will simply add on the COVID-19 vaccine to their list of health programs, Villafuerte added.
She urged Dabawenyos to avail of the vaccine in the districts as well as other health services and programs offered there, including pneumonia and flu vaccination.
Contributed Photo