Officials from the Department of Health Central Visayas (DOH-7) and the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) opened the Visayas Vaccination Operations Center in Mandaue City on Monday, March 1, two days before the expected arrival of the Sinovac vaccines.
The national government earlier said the vaccine rollout in Cebu City, one of three priority areas of the national vaccination program, will begin on March 3. This will start with the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC), the largest public hospital in the region.
“This is part of our whole-of-nation approach in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. As we are awaiting the vaccine rollout in Cebu and the whole Visayas, this Command Center will serve as a centralized hub for the implementation of the government’s Vaccination Plan in our region,” OPAV Assistant Secretary Anthony Gerard ‘Jonji’ Gonzales said in a statement to the media.
Dr Mary Jean Loreche, DOH-7’s chief pathologist and spokesperson, said the hub would serve as a place where regional health officials can monitor and consolidate priority lists of the different local government units as well as provide updates to the public on the progress of the vaccination program.
According to an initial survey by DOH-7, 5,634,789 people are eligible for vaccinations in the Central Visayas region.
The vaccination hub is at in a commercial space at the Oakridge Business Park.
The center is an initiative of OPAV’s Project Balik Buhay, a collaboration of OPAV with the private sector in COVID-19 response programs.
See the photos here:
– Rappler.com
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