MABALACAT CITY – The Department of Health (DOH) announced over the weekend that the vaccination here would be boosted, increasing it to more than double its daily capacity.
Starting this week, the capacity will be increased from 500 to 1,200 per day, according to DOH Regional Director Dr. Corazon Flores. She made the announcement during the ocular inspection of vaccination centers at the cinemas of SM City Clark.
The DOH noted the prompt vaccination process of Mabalacat, citing also the convenience and comfort of the vaccination venue.
“Mabalacat has a nice setup, very comfortable for both the health workers and those who will be inoculated,” Flores said in an interview.
“We like what is taking place here. They move very fast,” Flores said as she assured the public that DOH will be delivering more vaccines to meet the target.
This city has received about 10,000 Sinovac doses the past few weeks, while about 5,000 doses are set for delivery within the week.
Mayor Crisostomo Garbo said they anticipated an increase in operations as this city is host to about 80 percent of the 120,000 workers inside the Clark Freeport, with most of the land under its territorial jurisdiction.
Garbo also attributed the increase in capacity to the accommodation of A4 vaccinees, or those considered as economic frontliners.
SM Regional Operations Manager Andrea Madlangbayan said that all of the six cinemas at its Clark mall would now be utilized for vaccination.
As part of the preparations in the surge of vaccines, Garbo said the city will also be implementing an online registration in coordination with the Department of Information and Communications Technology.
“While we move towards paperless registration, especially for the employees, we will also put up kiosks for those who do not have computers and smartphones,” Garbo said.
While gearing for an increase in vaccination capacity, the city has also prepared more isolation and quarantine facilities as part of the Covid-19 Response Initiative System (CRIS) being implemented by City Hall under the supervision of Dr. Jay Rivera.
Garbo thanked the DOH, SM Supermalls management, and the city health workers for the capacity improvement.