As more people showed interest in having themselves vaccinated against the Covid-19, the city’s vaccination team has discovered some vaccinees have submitted tampered with medical certificates.
At least 100 fake medical certificates were discovered and were reported to the City Mayor’s Office.
Lawyer Althea Rosanna Alberto, executive assistant IV of the CMO, said the most common form of tampering with is reproduction of medical certificates owned by a vaccinee with comorbidity then passed on to an individual without underlying medical condition so they can qualify under the A3 category.
Personnel in charge of screening vaccinees also detected medical certificates that have erasures or have been “countersigned.”
She said tampering with happens mostly when the preferred brands of vaccine are announced.
Under the order of priorities for vaccination, those with comorbidities are third in the hierarchy of priorities. Submission of medical certificates or clearance is a requirement before vaccination.
Alberto said those found using tampered with medical certificates were not accommodated and the address of the clinic and the names of doctors who supposedly issued the document have been recorded for future reference.
She reminded the use of tampered with medical certificates is punishable by law.
Alberto has committed all those who want to be vaccinated will be accommodated in due time and need not have to submit falsified documents as the city government is doing its best to serve all those who want to be vaccinated.
To accommodate more people, the city government also set up satellite vaccination centers and a mobile vaccination system to cater to areas with clustering of cases such as business process outsourcing centers, city market, school personnel, and for the bedridden.
The City Health Services Office has also recently modified its queuing system after those in the A1, A2, A3, A4, and A5 categories have been collectively allowed in vaccination centers, instead of the previous system where vaccinees were accommodated based on the schedule for their category.
This resulted in a chaotic system where vaccinees ended up queuing at dawn while exposed to elements and some were not able to get their jabs when vaccines ran out.
In the new vaccination guidelines, vaccinees will be issued color-coded stubs by their district health centers. The stubs, which contain the date of vaccination, along with other requirements such as medical certificate, QR code as proof of pre-registration in the vaccination masterlist, ID card, employment certificate are among the documents that must be presented prior to entry in the vaccination sites. Walk-in vaccinees will not be accommodated.
Only the barangays covered by district health centers scheduled for the day will be accommodated.
As of July 12, the CHSO has administered 114,125 doses.
President Rodrigo Duterte in his State of the Nation Address on July 26, has directed the National Covid-19 Task Force to draft uniform guidelines in the vaccination system.
The President said he does not want to see people lining up in the wee hours just to ensure they get a slot. He said this is to avoid crowding at vaccination sites, which could trigger the spread of the virus that causes the Covid-19.
With the Delta variant spreading in various parts of the country, the President said precaution should be observed as the country could no longer afford to go on a strict lockdown because of its repercussions to the economy. – Rimaliza A. Opiña
May 8, 2024
