The City Government of Davao, along with other local government units (LGUs) in the country, will have to wait for the test results of the ongoing pilot vaccination rollout for age group 12 to 17 years old in the National Capital Region (NCR) before it will be replicated in the city.
Davao COVID-19 Task Force Spokesperson Dr. Michelle Schlosser, in an interview with the City Information Office (CIO) on Tuesday, October 19, said, “Wala pa ta nag-rollout ana diri sa LGU nato (We have not yet rolled out the minors’ vaccination in our LGU). The rollout started in NCR on October 15 sa anim ka (in six) hospitals for children with comorbidities.”
Dr. Schlosser said after a week, if the pilot test in six selected NCR hospitals runs smoothly, another rollout will be conducted in six LGUs in the NCR for another week.
“Once okay, if it runs smoothly, ma rollout na to sa (it can then be rolled out in) provincial LGUs. Even with that we hope that we have already vaccinated at least 50 percent of our senior citizens,” she said.
She said that the city is giving priority to senior citizens, under priority group A2, and adults with comorbidities (A3) as they are the most vulnerable groups.
The Department of Health (DOH), however, has yet to provide the City Health Office (CHO) or the Davao COVID-19 Task Force the guidelines for the vaccination of minors with comorbidities.
The city health official earlier said that Davao City might be rolling out the minors’ vaccination in late October or November this year when the pilot tests in NCR go without glitches.
In an earlier episode of the Special Hours program of 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR), Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte said the city government sought consent from the Department of Health (DOH) to roll out the vaccination of 12 to 17 years old students from five schools that will be included in the pilot testing of face-to-face (F2F) classes.
The Department of Education (DepEd) Davao City has requested DOH to allow F2F classes in schools in minimal risk areas such as Dalagdag National High School in Barangay Dalagdag, G. Tajo National High School in Barangay Lampianao, Saloy National High School in Barangay Saloy, Victor Bernal Integrated School in Barangay Mabuhay, and Gumitan Elementary School in Barangay Gumitan.
Teaching and non-teaching personnel of schools that will join the F2F pilot tests, however, must have to be fully vaccinated.
But Davao City was excluded from the F2F classes pilot testing as the request to DOH came at a time when the city was still classified as “high risk.” CIO
