LGUs urged to implement protocols for vax drive amid floods

MANILA – Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles on Sunday echoed President Rodrigo Duterte’s call for local government units (LGUs) to be more circumspect in carrying out Covid-19 vaccination drives amid rains and floods caused by Typhoon Fabian.

Nograles said Duterte has always disliked seeing long queues, so he was not surprised by the President’s order to LGUs to find ways to make the vaccination process hassle-free for scheduled recipients.

“Nung nakita niyang nakapila nga para sa vaccination, inutusan niya ang DILG [Department of the Interior and Local Government] na pakiusapan yung mga mayors, ayusin natin ang sistema. Palagay ko ang kailangan gawin ng mga LGUs pag nagkakaroon ng vaccination at may ulan, kailangan may special protocols sila at procedures para hindi ma-hassle ang ating mga kababayan (When he saw the long lines for vaccination, he instructed the DILG to ask mayors to organize the system. I think LGUs need to have special protocols and procedures so that our citizens don’t encounter problems during vaccination while it’s raining),” he said in an interview over dzBB.

Nograles said LGUs may consider vaccinations by appointment and temporarily prohibiting walk-in recipients.

“Dapat talaga kung sino yung naka appointment, dapat yun yung i-encourage natin na pumunta (Those with appointments are the ones we should encourage to show up),” he said.

Local officials, he said, will still have the final say when it comes to ensuring an orderly vaccination drive during the wet season.

In a meeting with Cabinet officials on Saturday night, Duterte expressed concern over long lines in vaccination centers as well as the risk of leptospirosis.

“People are exposed in the open, unprotected from the elements tapos (and then) waiting for a chance to have the shot. Mga three to four hours magtindig diyan, sir. Sabagay baha kasi ngayon eh (Standing three to four hours because there are floods). They could just have looked for another auditorium there or somewhere to do it,” he said.

Duterte then urged DILG Secretary Eduardo Año to issue a directive urging LGU officials to be more “proactive” in ensuring a smoother vaccination drive, especially during floods.

“Can I request the Secretary of Local Government to just enjoin them — may be a directive to enjoin them to be more circumspect and not to — especially now that the southwest monsoon is passing the country na hindi ganito ang ano (that’s not like this)? It’s not the way — how to do it,” he added.

Data from the Department of Health (DOH) showed that the number of leptospirosis cases in the country increased by 13 percent for the first half of 2021 with a total of 589 cases.

There were only 520 reported leptospirosis cases in the same period last year.

Leptospirosis is an infectious disease caused by pathogenic bacteria called leptospires, that are transmitted directly or indirectly from animals to humans, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The disease, which is most common in tropical and subtropical areas with high rainfall, is found mainly wherever humans come into contact with the urine of infected animals or a urine-polluted environment.