Four schools in Iloilo City eyed as additional Covid-19 vaccine sites

Iloilo City government is looking at four more schools in the metro to serve as additional Covid-19 vaccine sites once the vaccines are available.

Mayor Jerry Treñas said he is looking at four more schools in Iloilo City particularly Ateneo de Iloilo – Santa Maria Catholic School, John B. Lacson Maritime Foundation University, West Visayas State University (WVSU), and University of San Agustin to be the possible venue of the city-wide vaccination program.

“We are looking at three to four vaccination areas here sa city. We have Ateneo de Iloilo, John. B Lacson, WVSU, and University of San Agustin,” he said in a media interview during the first vaccine simulation exercise held last week at the Central Philippine University (CPU).

Iloilo City government conducted the first vaccine simulation exercise as it prepares ahead for its vaccination program.

About 500 volunteers and 115 vaccinators joined the simulation exercise.

Officials noted the slow turn-around time of the vaccination process which can last 45 minutes per person.

“We found out the process was slow. We can only inject a person after 45 minutes of the process. We are still looking for ways to shorten the process,” Treñas said in a radio interview.

He said that they are aiming to reduce the time element to 30 minutes per person to hasten the vaccination process and cater to more residents.

“There may have been many challenges, but we will make sure that we will look at the real situation so we can prepare properly, and submit our plan to the World Health Organization (WHO) and Department of Health (DOH),” he furthered.

Meanwhile, Jeck Conlu spokesperson of the Iloilo City Covid-19 Team said they will be holding the second round of the vaccine simulation exercise particularly at John B. Lacson, WVSU, and two other schools in the metro.

Iloilo City has recently signed the multilateral agreement for the advance purchase of AstraZeneca of vaccines with a budget of over PHP200 million for the 600,000 doses of the vaccines. (ERS)