Senior citizens can walk-in, register at vaccination sites – Gaane

“MASKI wala’y preregistration ang seniors didto mismo sa vaccination sites ato nang gi-facilitate basta willing lang sila magpabakuna”.

This was reiterated by Councilor Maria Lourdes S. Gaane during the regular session Monday presided over by Vice Mayor Raineir Joaquin V. Uy in reaction to the special report of Councilor Jocelyn Rodriguez regarding the use of barangays as vaccination sites for easy access of senior citizens.

The councilor said senior citizens were already considered as a vulnerable sector categorized as A2, as per Department of Health (DOH) guidelines. She added that issues on preregistration of the elderly were also considered since some of the seniors are living in hinterland barangays and do not have access to the internet.

The City Health Insurance Office (CHIO) announced that senior citizens can proceed directly to vaccination sites with their Identification Cards (ID) indicating their date of birth. Preregistration will be done on site.

On the proposal that barangays be considered as vaccination sites, Councilor Gaane said vaccines cannot be transported without maintaining proper cold storage to ensure their potency and efficacy.

“Let me reiterate nga ang bakuna dili nato pwede i-transport basta-basta kay considering this is a new vaccine we have to maintain cold storage,” she stressed.

As much as the city aims to attain herd immunity, Councilor Gaane said vaccines should also be well-delivered and must go through the process to maintain their potency and efficacy.

“Useless atong pagbakuna kung dili nato mahatag ang tama nga potency sa atong bakuna,” Gaane said.

Based on data from the DOH, as of June 24, 2021, 21,337 of the targeted 46,563 senior citizens were already vaccinated.