After a few days of dry runs, vaccination against Covid-19 in the 18 district health centers of Davao City officially started on Monday; bringing Covid-19 vaccination services closer and more accessible to all Dabawenyos.
The vaccines are available to clients aged 5 and above.
All district health centers have a “no wrong door” policy, where clients do not necessarily need to reside in a specific district to avail of Covid vaccine shots from the district health center there.
The Tomas Claudio Health Center, which covers the 10 barangays within District A, conducted a dry-run of district health vaccinations on Thursday last week and was deemed successful. According to District Health Physician for District A Dr. Harlyn Jan B. Espela, in an interview with the City Information Office on Monday, the number of vaccinees that visited the health center since its dry-run on Thursday numbered over a hundred. She said that most clients they have catered to are those looking to be jabbed with booster shots.
“Diri sa Tomas Claudio sa District A, daghan-daghan pud mi’g mga vaccinees since nag-start mi og vaccination. Actually, last week nagsugod na mi Thursday; dili mubaba sa one hundred ang nagapa-vaccine sa amo every day (Here at Tomas Claudio District A, we’ve catered to a significant number of vaccinees since we started the vaccination. We actually started Thursday last week; no less than one hundred clients get their shots from us every day),” Espela said.
Espela added that the district health center caters to all clients regardless of their address and that mobile vaccinations at the barangay levels are currently being eyed. “Actually, tanang muanhi dihi sa Tomas Claudio gina-cater namo regardless kung District A sila or District B. Maski gikan sila’g layo nga area gina-cater namo diri. Pero ang target gyud namo is ma-cater namo tanan barangay sa District A. And hopefully ang plano namin is mag-mobile mismo (Actually, we cater to all clients who come here in Tomas Claudio regardless of whether they come from District A or B. Though they come from other areas, we cater to them here. But, our target is to really cater to all the barangays in District A. And hopefully our plan is to really go mobile),” Espela added.
Meanwhile, at the Talomo South District Health Center, mobile vaccinations had been launched on Wednesday last week along with the operationalization of the district health center vaccination program. This, according to District Health Officer Dr. Margie Roa-Rubio in an interview with the CIO on Monday.
Roa-Rubio said that since the roll out of vaccination in the district health centers and the launching of mobile vaccination in the NHA Bangkal Gym on Wednesday last week, a total of 378 individuals received shots, of whom, 110 belonged to the pediatric age groups 5-11 and 12-17.
The District Health Officer said that the Talomo South District Health Center is coordinating with school principals of the elementary schools in the district to encourage students and their parents to get inoculated or avail of booster shots. Roa-Rubio also said that mobile vaccination programs targeting Barangays Baliok, Dumoy, Bago Gallera, Bago Aplaya and Talomo Proper are slated this week.
Covid-19 vaccines are available in the 18 district health centers in Davao city from Monday to Friday, between 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. All other district health services such as general consultations, prenatal care, immunization for children, and others remain available to the public on top of the inoculation program against Covid-19.
For a complete list of district vaccination hubs, vaccination requirements, and mobile vaccination schedules, check out: https://www.facebook.com/davaocitygov/posts/164409126101002. CIO
