DAVAO CITY—More than 20,000 workers and members of the transport sector were vaccinated over the weekend as the city ramps up its Covid-19 vaccination program to stem the surge of infections.
The business-process outsourcing (BPO) sector also vaccinated some 1,700 of its personnel, also in its bid to jump-start a wider inoculation program in an industry-based vaccination program started here for the A4 and A5 priority group, composed mainly the workers and those who have to go out to earn a living amid the pandemic.
The city has already achieved its target of a daily vaccination of 10,000 and has opened its weekend to continue vaccinating the A4 priority group and some communities in the A5 group, expecting these groups to swarm the vaccination centers owing to their sheer number.
Priority Group A4 are the public and private school teachers, workers from the tourism sector, private companies, mall employees, and members of the transport sector. To divide them, the city has established an industry-based inoculation.
The city government has scheduled the A4 group in different vaccination hubs, the city information office said. It said 2,459 doses were allocated to the tourism sector and the Philippine Coast Guard at Waterfront Insular Hotel; 2,000 doses for Boysen at Sasa Warehouse; 3,000 doses for Davao Colleges and Universities Network; 3,000 doses for Philippine Women’s College and University of Mindanao Bolton Campus;
Some 1,300 doses for the Davao Association of College Schools; 1,300 doses for Ateneo de Davao University; 1,500 doses for San Miguel Brewery workers at Davao Doctors Hospital; 4,000 doses for the Department of Education at various schools jab sites; 800 for the transport Group at Agro-Industrial Foundation College; 1,000 for the Chinatown Development Council at Chong Hua School; and, 4,000 for workers of Abreeza Mall, Gaisano Mall, SM, and NCCC Malls.
The BPO sector has announced it has vaccinated 1,711 employees here for the first dose during the three-day industry-based vaccination activity at Felcris Centrale, from June 30 to July 2.
“It was good, as of last night, we have vaccinate 1,711 in three days. It was a volunteer-based vaccination. We have participating companies to send volunteers. We observed in the first and second day, we could do more kasi pinapabilis namin ang process [we hastened the process],” BPO Association of Davao Inc. President Eric Manalastas said.
Manalastas has asked the City Health Office for additional doses, saying the BPO industry in the city has an estimated 50,000 employees from 30 to 35 companies.
He said a similar activity would be held in two weeks depending on the availability of the vaccines.
“We target to inoculate at least 25,000 in a similar vaccination rollout activity. We plan to have two vaccination sites, one in the north and Felcris in the south. We are eyeing NCCC Mall Buhangin and we will be inspecting the site. That’s the best way to achieve our target. We’ll ask other BPO companies to also volunteer, we will train their volunteers as well,” he added.
BPO workers were among those severely hit in the surge here, with a big company alone recording more than 400 personnel testing positive for Covid-19 in one contact swab sweep in the first week of June.
City Health Office (CHO) Acting Head Dr. Ashley Lopez said that offices like BPO companies and banks recorded high cases of Covid-19 transmission due to poor ventilation.
Lopez disclosed over the weekend that another group of 20 private and government offices would be locked down this week due to infection within their establishments. He did not name the establishments though,
The Davao City Covid-19 vaccination program has recorded a total of 257,253 doses already administered to individuals belonging to Priority Groups A1, A2, A3, A4, and A5 in Davao City. Of the number, 211,425 were for the first dose while 45,828 were for the second dose.
A total of 41,248 have received their first dose while 26,924 received their second dose for Priority Group A1 or the health-care frontliners.
A total of 72,033 were senior citizens or those belonging to Priority Group A2 have received their first dose and 26,924 for the second dose.
For A3 or persons with comorbidities, a total of 87,046 have been inoculated with their first dose of anti-Covid-19 vaccines, while 6,847 have received their second dose.
A total of 6,647 of the priority group A4 have received their first dose and 4,451 first dose and 140 received the second dose under A5, the city information office said.