Simex reveals vaccination ‘kinks’

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

 

The vaccination Simex (Simulation Exercise) conducted by the Iloilo City government on Thursday revealed areas of improvement to ensure a quicker and smoother rollout of its COVID-19 vaccination program.

Mayor Jerry Treñas on Friday said they found out that the process was slow.

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas on Friday vowed a quick and smooth rollout of its upcoming COVID-19 vaccination program.

“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,” he said in a radio interview.

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

The simulation exercise included the screening and assessment of the participants and signing of consent to be vaccinated.

The Simex was conducted at the Central Philippine University with 500 participants mostly city hall workers.

100 participants were vaccinated with flu shots by dozens of midwives and nurses.

“We are doing that so we can come up with a very good vaccination plan, which we are going to send to DOH (Department of Health) for their advice,” Treñas said.

Iloilo City already secured some 600,000 doses of anti-coronavirus vaccine developed by British pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca.

Treñas said they had allotted PHP209-million for vaccine procurement in hopes of immunizing its residents against the disease.

The city will prioritize frontliners, high-risk persons, and registered voters of the city.