Leni, Isko launch drive-thru COVID-19 vaccination for tricycle, pedicab, delivery service drivers in Manila

A drive-thru vaccination hub against COVID-19 was opened in Manila on Tuesday exclusively for tricycle, pedicab and delivery services drivers.

The project was spearheaded by the Office of Vice President (OVP), the city government of Manila, and their partners in the private sector.

Vice President Leni Robredo and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno graced the opening of the hub.

In a statement, the OVP said the initiative, dubbed as #VaccineExpress, will run from June 22 to June 23 and is a collaboration with private firms UBE Express, Seaoil, Smart Communications, and Cultural Center of the Philippines.

"We are thankful for all the volunteer doctors and nurses, including from our Bayanihan E-konsulta initiative, who already signed up to join us on-site for this effort," Robredo said.

Robredo also called for more volunteers for the project.

Interested parties can sign up thru the following links:

Medical Doctors: http://bit.ly/JabCabMDManila

Nurses: https://bit.ly/OVPVENurses

"Thank you and we look forward to working with you," she said.

No politics

Robredo and Moreno both assured the public that their partnership in making COVID-19 vaccine accessible to Manila residents is not in preparation for running together in 2022 polls.

"I do not know, maybe I will return, maybe she will return, everybody can rest...it (2022 polls) is too far-fetched. What matters most now is the pandemic. There is a health threat, kailangan ng trabaho dahil naapektuhan ang ekonomiya, iyan ang mahalagang pinag-usapan namin ni Vice President (there is a need to create more jobs due to the pandemic shutting the economy, and that is the important matter I discussed with the Vice President)," Moreno said when asked on the matter.

"Napakahalaga na iyong nilalapitan naming LGU ay hindi 2022 ang tinitignan. The pandemic has no political color. When we proposed this [COVID-19 response partnership] to City of Manila, nag-oo agad sila. Lahat ng suporta na kailangan namin, binigay nila. Nakakatuwa iyon," Robredo added in the same interview where she was side by side with Moreno.

(It is important for us that our partner LGU does not look at the move as something for 2022. When we reached out to the City of Manila, they immediately agreed and gave us all the support we needed and that is a welcome development.)

Moreno was equally grateful for Robredo’s aid to Manila’s COVID-19 response.

“Natutuwa lang ako kasi anybody na tutulong sa mga taga-Maynila, bilang ama ng lungsod, tinatanaw namin 'yon na utang na loob. Anybody, immaterial of political differences,” Moreno said.

(As the father of the city, we are in debt of gratitude to anybody who would extend help to us.)

“What matters most to us is that today, the Office of the Vice President went out of its way, through the efforts of Vice President Leni, to help us. We have a handful of vaccination sites but we even had additional today so this is a big help,” Moreno added.—Llanesca T. Panti/KBK/AOL, GMA News