Navotas City ready for COVID-19 vaccination program

The Navotas City government on Saturday was pronounced ready for the COVID-19 vaccination program.

The COVID-19 Vaccine Coordinated Operations to Defeat Epidemic (CODE) Team went to the city on Saturday to check on its preparations for the vaccine rollout, according to a report by Jhomer Apresto on Super Radyo dzBB.

TINGNAN: Aalamin ng Code Team ngayong umaga ang mga paghahanda ng Navotas City para sa nalalapit na Covid-19 vaccination program. |@dzbb @gmanews pic.twitter.com/zTpIdjRZsR

— Jhomer Apresto (@jhomer_apresto) February 6, 2021

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles were among the officials who inspected the city's cold storage facility and vaccination center at the Navotas Polytechnic College.

LOOK: Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III together with CabSec Karlo Nograles and the Vaccine C.O.D.E. team earlier visited the local government of Navotas to check on the city's preparations- pic.twitter.com/Br3dx26zDP

— Department of Health (@DOHgovph) February 6, 2021

Duque praised the local government for the vaccination plan presented by the City Health Office.

Under the plan, there will be 20 vaccination sites in the city, according to a report on News TV Live.

Duque also lauded local government officials for their good numbers, since the city's positivity rate for COVID-19 is at 1.17% while active cases were only 0.7% of total cases.

However, city officials admitted they have to be more aggressive in their information campaign to address vaccine hesitancy.

The city is targeting to have 2,000 individuals vaccinated per day—100 persons per vaccination site daily—once COVID-19 vaccines are available, for a total of 107,000 people.

To date, however, less than 2,000 people have signed up to receive the vaccine.

Local government officials advised residents not to be afraid to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Navotas City Mayor Toby Tiangco earlier said at least 50,000 residents would initially be vaccinated after the local government inked a pact with AstraZeneca for the purchase of 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine. 

The city has earmarked P20 million for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Moderna.

Tiangco earlier said too that the local government would also inoculate those who are working in the city, including those from private firms. 

As of Friday, the city has recorded 5,622 COVID-19 cases.

Of this number, 5,410 have recovered while 175 died. Thirty-seven cases are active.

 —KG, GMA News