The Davao City COVID-19 Task Force aims to intensify the COVID-19 vaccine booster rollout, in partnership with business process outsourcing (BPO) companies in the city.
Dr. Michelle Schlosser, the spokesperson of the Davao City COVID-19 Task Force, said they met with representatives of BPO companies on Friday, April 8, 2022.
“We have been partnering with them man gyud since tung time nag-surge ta. We also partner with them sa pagpataas sa booster doses. Unahon nato ang mga employees, massive ang hiring and there are a lot of employees diha sa ilahang mga establishments (We have partnered with them since our last surge. We also partner with them in increasing our booster doses. We will start with the BPO employees, they have massive hiring and they also have a lot of employees in their establishments),” she said during the Bida Bakunado program of 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR) on Friday, April 8, 2022.
The city health official said BPO representatives gave suggestions and recommendations that would best suit their employees’ vaccination needs.
Dr. Schlosser underscored the high number of fully vaccinated individuals in BPOs but the boosters still needed a push.
During the meeting, BPOs said that most of their employees have become complacent after receiving two doses of the anti-COVID-19 vaccines. And since they require that employees are fully vaccinated and boostered when reporting for duty onsite, others opt not to get boostered at all so they can extend their work-from-home setup.
The task force and the BPOs brainstormed and strategized during the meeting to address the matter. Each BPO also shared its best practices and compared notes to come up with the best strategy to improve the booster turnout.
The BPOs will provide a master list of their employees’ vaccination status to the Davao City COVID-19 Task Force.
“We will be doing mobile vaccination sa ilaha. Before kasi dili ta nagabuhat og mobile vaccination unless at least 100 ka tao ang magpabakuna. Naa man gyud companies nga dili kaabot og 100 no. We have come up with an idea na at least 50 ka tao magpabakuna adtuon na sa atoang team. Isa na sa mga suggestions ngadto para mas convenient sa ilaha (We will conduct a mobile vaccination in BPO offices. Before, we don’t hold a mobile vaccination unless vaccinees reach at least 100. We have come up with an idea that even if it’s just 50, we will send our team. That’s one of the suggestions to make it more convenient for them),” Dr. Schlosser added.
Assigning a vaccination hub fast lane to BPO workers was also raised during the meeting.
The sectoral mobile vaccination will first cater to BPOs, “hopefully with the banks sunod and restaurants like we did sa primary doses (hopefully, the banks will follow then the restaurants as we did during the rollout of the primary doses).”
As of April 8, 2022, only 18.34 percent of the 1,301,119 fully vaccinated Dabawenyos have received their booster shots. Thus, the Davao City COVID-19 Task Force thought of bringing the boosters to establishments and offices as most of the fully vaccinated individuals are in workplaces.
Check out this week’s operational vaccination sites for boosters, first, second, and missed doses for 12 years old and above population groups and pediatric population five to 11 years old here ? https://www.facebook.com/davaocitygov/posts/5318264958224983. CIO
