Control crowding in vax centers: Palace to LGUs

MANILA – Malacañang on Thursday ordered local government units’ (LGUs) officials to implement measures to control crowding in Covid-19 vaccination centers, warning them that failure to do so can be considered “dereliction of duty.”

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made this remark following reports that an unexpected number of people swarmed in vaccination centers in Manila.

Reports showed that the vaccine turnout in Manila was as high as 22,000 from the usual daily numbers of 1,000 to 2,000 per vaccination site.

“Ang pinagbilin po ng Presidente, dapat unang-una, kino-control po talaga ang crowd. Pangalawa, kinakailangan makatao po. Hindi po puwede nagkakagulo (The President instructed that first, there should be crowd control. Second, it should be humane. Chaos should be prevented),” he said in a Palace press briefing.

Roque reminded LGU officials to ensure that a scheduling system is followed to ensure that there are enough slots for those who show up in vaccination sites.

“Huwag naman po natin gawing super spreader events ang ating bakunahan because ang bakuna po (Let us turn vaccinations into super spreader events because vaccines) will save lives, it should not endanger lives,” he added.

He said LGU officials should be able to control crowding because there are enough resources to implement minimum public health standards.

“Sapat po ang ating resources para magpatupad ng minimum [public] health standards at ang hindi po pagpapatupad niyan ay isang klase ng dereliction of duty ng ating mga lokal na opisyales (We have enough resources to implement minimum public health standards and not implementing them is a form of dereliction of duty on the part of our local officials),” he said.

He said neglecting quarantine protocols in Covid-19 vaccination sites could spell disaster for the country.

“Nananawagan po kami kinakailangan ipatupad ang minimum [public] health standards, otherwise, yung ating bakunahan na ang objective ay makasalba ng buhay baka ‘yan pa ang maging dahilan ng pagkakasakit at pagkakamatay (We ask local officials to implement minimum public health standards, otherwise, our vaccination, which aims to save lives could be the reason we have more deaths),” he added.

Fake news

Meanwhile, Roque denied that issues with the government’s messaging caused the surge of people in Covid-19 vaccination sites.

President Rodrigo Duterte last July 28 ordered the police and barangay officials to prevent unvaccinated people from going outside, telling them to escort them back to their homes if they did.

Roque later clarified that there is currently no enforcement of Duterte’s order to keep unvaccinated individuals at home.

“I don’t think so. Tingin ko may mga nagpapakalat talaga ng fake news. Mayroon talagang walang matinong ginagawa sa buhay nila (I think there are really some people spreading fake news. There are really some people who have nothing to do in their lives),” he said.

He assured that unvaccinated persons will still be allowed to leave their homes to buy essential items such as food and medicine.

Unvaccinated individuals in areas under the strictest enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) status will also continue to receive PHP1,000 per person, or a maximum of PHP4,000 per family under its subsidy program.

Metro Manila will shift to ECQ from Aug. 6 to 20 to prevent the spread of the Delta Covid-19 variant.

Currently, the country has reported over 1.6 million Covid-19 cases.