ILIGAN CITY, Apr 15 (PIA)–The city government of Iligan commenced Wednesday, April 14, the vaccination of health workers belonging to A1.5 and A1.6 priority groups.
Among the personnel under A1.5 group are government-owned primary care-based facilities such as urban health centers, rural health units and barangay health stations, birthing homes, and local health offices to include members of barangay health emergency response teams (BHERTs), contact tracers, and social workers.
On the other hand, A1.6 group comprises stand-alone facilities, clinics and diagnostic centers, and other facilities such as clinics, dialysis centers, dental clinics, and COVID-19 laboratories dealing with COVID-19 cases, contacts, and specimens for research purposes, screening and case management coordinated through their respective local government units. This also includes all health workers that are not based in any health facility.
“Atong gibakunahan karon mao ang clinics, BHWs, BHERTs, BNS, contact tracers, Red Cross Dialysis Center… We have to cover that one kay naa pay upcoming nga mga vaccine, muabot within this week,” said Jucel Arnado of the Department of Health-10 (DOH-10).
[What we are vaccinating now are the clinics, BHWs, BHERTs, BNS, contact tracers, Red Cross Dialysis Center… We have to cover that one because we still have upcoming vaccines, they will arrive within this week.]
Iligan Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Health Cluster manager Dr. Belinda Lim bared that the local government has no problem with convincing health workers to get immunized.
She also shared that frontliners who are eager to take the vaccine greatly superseded reluctant and deferred frontliners.
“So far, ang ato gyung first target who are the health frontliners, siguro naa ra sa 5% ang mga hesitant ug dili magpabakuna. Gani, daghan kaayo ta nga mga health frontliner nga muanhi, nga gusto magpabakuna pero medyo nadisqualify kay tungod taas og blood pressure, mabdos ug unsa pa na diha,” Lim said.
[So far, our first target who are the health frontliners, maybe only 5% are hesitant and cannot be vaccinated. In fact, we have a lot of health frontliners who go here, who want to get vaccinated but were disqualified because they have high blood pressure, are pregnant, etc.]
Meanwhile, medical frontliners who already took their initial shot affirmed how smooth the process was.
“So far, okay man siya. Paspas ang pagproseso sa pagcheck sa among health kung okay ba mi. Dayon pag-inject, okay gyud siya,” attested Gwendelyn Camering, a barangay nutrition scholar of Brgy. Maria Cristina.
[So far, it was okay. The process of checking our health if we were okay was fast. Then during the injection, it was really okay.]
They also expressed their joy with the successful first step of immunization.
“Ako, lipay kaayo ko nga nakadawat ko ani nga vaccine. Opportunity na nato mga senior, mga frontliner,” stated Celina Conol, a staff nurse at Grospe Polymedic.
[I am very happy that I was able to receive this vaccine. This is an opportunity for us, seniors, frontliners.] (CRG/ PIA-ICIC)
