ILOILO CITY – The local government here will include in its vaccination program the market traders and “kasambahay” or household helpers.
Jeck Conlu, spokesperson for the city Covid-19 team, in an interview Wednesday said employers are encouraged to have their kasambahay certified or registered with their barangay to avail of the inoculation.
“They are the ones who always go out of the houses. Once or twice a month they go home to the province and when they come back some already have symptoms,” he said.
Meanwhile, a small team of vaccinators will visit various markets to inoculate traders, especially those coming from outside of the city.
“They are in and out of the city so they have to be protected,” he added.
The spokesperson said they have no guidelines yet for those who will refuse to submit to the inoculation, but are highly encouraged.
“For now we have no guidelines but it is for their safety, safety of our vendors and those who buy in our market,” he added.
The vaccination rollout will be done on Sept. 3 starting with the Iloilo Terminal Market, the city’s main trading post.
On Sept. 6 the local government will open its mega vaccination sites at Robinsons Jaro and SM City for walk-in city residents.
They only need to show their valid identification as proof that they are residents of the city to avail of the vaccination.
To reach out to more eligible population, the city government started its barangay-based vaccination program on Aug. 30, prioritizing thickly populated villages.
Teams are holding house-to-house vaccination for those unable to go to barangay gymnasiums.
Already on its third day, teams of vaccinators are currently in Barangays Sambag, Ungka, Cubay, Lanit and Balabago in Jaro district; Ingore in La Paz; and East Baluarte and North Baluarte in Molo.
For the past two days, a total of 7,031 were inoculated; 4,448 on Aug. 30 and 2,583 on Aug. 31.
As of Aug.30, the City Health Office (CHO) report showed that 274, 495 or 52.28 percent of the 525,000 target population have availed of their first dose while 27.24 percent or 143, 025 were fully vaccinated. (PNA)
Source: Philippines News Agency
