The mass vaccination in Baguio City has gone from being organized to chaotic.
When the city government resumed its vaccination for first doses after weeks of suspension due to unavailability of vaccines, walk-in clients trooping the vaccination sites were accommodated.
Previously, the city government sends a text message to those who registered to bakuna.baguio.ph on the schedule and the area of their vaccination.
The sending of text messages stopped, especially when vaccination for the A4 category was rolled out, and what was required only was for the vaccinees to show their QR code as proof they have registered with the city government vaccination portal.
The city opened the vaccination for first doses on July 16 after weeks of accommodating only those getting their second doses. This time, walk-in individuals are now accommodated at the vaccination sites.
City Health Services Officer Rowena Galpo said walk-ins are now being accommodated to cover more vaccinees.
“We are no longer restricting those who will be vaccinated, only those under the A3 category in which we ask them to show their certificates. We have opened the vaccination for all for faster and for more coverage,” she said.
Galpo said this is one of the city’s proactive measures against the Delta variant, which is said to be more transmissible.
The situation in the vaccination sites last week, however, was a total opposite of what used to be an orderly and organized vaccination process in Baguio.
Since then, a lot of vaccinees shared their ordeals on social media about having to get up in the wee hours only to get slots at the vaccination sites.
The bleak scenario was further aggravated when the downpour brought about by the easterly monsoon got stronger on July 21, where people wanting to be vaccinated endured getting soaked while waiting for their turns to receive their anti-Covid-19 shots.
The Facebook accounts of the CHSO and the Public Information Office of the City Mayor’s Office were flooded with complaints, with some saying they have queued as early as 2 a.m. outside the vaccination sites to be able to receive their Covid-19 vaccine shots.
Vaccination starts at 8 a.m., except SM Baguio, which opens its gates as early as 5 a.m. and starts the vaccination at 6 a.m.
Even those who were scheduled for their second doses complained of not being able to be accommodated because there are no more slots for them.
Some vaccinees have been going back to the vaccination sites with the hope they will finally be accommodated while others go to other areas with lesser people.
The vaccinations sites have set a quota of 1,000 vaccinees per day. – Jane B. Cadalig
April 24, 2024
