IATF, OPAV develop, present community vaccination handbook to mayors in Cebu

MINERVA BC NEWMAN

CEBU CITY – The Visayas COVID-19 Vaccination Operations Center (VVOC) has developed a Community Vaccination Handbook/Manual that was presented to 40 local chief executives in Cebu, Wednesday, April 14 at the VVOC, Oakridge IT Center 3, Manadue City.

The VVOC is composed of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF)-Visayas, Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV), Department of Health (DOH-7) in partnership with the private sector through the Project Balik Buhay (PBB) that serves compass for the local government units (LGUs) in the region to follow in their respective local vaccination operations centers.

IATF-Visayas chief implementer, Gen Mel Feliciano authored the manual-handbook with insights from various experts, on how to implement the community vaccination plan safely, efficiently, and orderly and in accordance with the mass rollout of vaccines of the national government.

The manual-handbook is a concoction of the best vaccination operations plan to create a more rationalized effort, harmonious roll out operations, and a more streamlined approach towards vaccinating our citizens against our enemy, the COVID-19.

As the government continues to work to achieve the goal of vaccinating 70 Million Filipinos by December 31, 2021, what the local government can do is to come up with ways to implement the National Vaccination Plan in their respective regions and localities, according to OPAV secretary Michael Dino.

 Dino bared that so far there were already over 120,000 people of the Visayas that were inoculated and some of them have already received their second doses.

“Before today, we have already seen the manual to be effective as we have conducted a pilot test in Mandaue City, the first to implement community vaccination in the Visayas serving as a benchmark for all other localities.  Hence, this handbook-manual should be cascaded to the local government units in the Visayas,” Dino said in his message at the event today.

 Dino bared that during the pilot testing in Mandaue, the time it took from the vital signs, assessment, counseling, up to the actual vaccination was only about 10-15 minutes while post-vaccination monitoring took around 30 minutes.  It is expected that the whole vaccination process can be done in less than one hour.

“As we cascade this manual, I urge you to use it for the good and what better way to do that than surpass your best every time. We owe it to our people to give it our all in all ways, for their welfare and our country’s future,” Dino challenged the mayors.

 The VVOC hopes that while waiting for more vaccines to be distributed across the country, Central Visayas is ready to receive them with the cold storage facilities, logistical requirements and inoculation sites are ready for the biggest vaccination initiative of this generation’s history, Dino said.