OPAV sets up command center to coordinate efforts of national vax plan in the Visayas

MINERVA BC NEWMAN

CEBU CITY –The Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) through the “Project Balik Buhay” established the Visayas Vaccine Command Center VVCC) Thursday at the Oakridge Business Park in Mandaue City that aims to coordinate efforts for the implementation of the national vaccination program and will be managed by OPAV assistant secretary Anthony Gerard Gonzales.

Gonzales said that the center facilitates for a more cohesive implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination program in the three regions in the Visayas. The establishment of the VVCC was announced during the press conference on February 18 with the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) Visayas, Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) and OPAV.

“This is part of our whole-of-nation approach in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. As we are awaiting the vaccine rollout in Cebu and the whole Visayas, this Command Center will serve as a centralized hub for the implementation of the government’s Vaccination Plan in our region,” Gonzales added.

DOH-7 regional director Dr. Jaime Bernadas thanked the OPAV and partners in the business sector through the Project Balik Buhay (PBB) for the VVCC setup.  “This has been initiated by OPAV Secretary Michael Lloyd Dino and our business partners in the private sector through the PBB,” Bernadas said.

Gonzales explained that the OPAV is closely working with the national government, through the guidance from President Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Bong Go, who chairs the Senate Health Committee, to ensure the success of the vaccination rollout in the Visayas.

There is an urgent need for the economy to recover and people to live with the virus, Gonzales added, and that vaccination is a crucial step to this transition to the new normal.  A recent survey found that only 47 percent of Filipinos are willing to be vaccinated.

 “We must individually be responsible. We cannot anymore afford a lockdown. The economy is hurting. We have to support the vaccination program and continue to observe the minimum health protocols,” Gonzales said.

The Command Center will also conduct information campaign to increase awareness of the importance of COVID vaccines in preventing further spread of the virus, he said.  The government aims to vaccinate at least 70 percent of the entire population to achieve herd immunity, thus controlling the spread of the SARS-CoV 2 virus. (Photos: OPAV)