QC to use Big Dome as mega jab site

QUEZON City Mayor Josefina “Joy” Belmonte said on Thursday the Araneta Group — owner of the Smart Araneta Coliseum — has offered The Big Dome to be used as a mega vaccination site for free.

“We estimate the Big Dome is capable of hosting 1,000 to 1,500 Covid vaccinations per day,” Belmonte said, adding inoculations could begin in the venue on Saturday.

Air filters and fans will be installed to ensure adequate ventilation.

“The city government is grateful to the Araneta Group for offering the Big Dome to this program for free. It is a suitable site for a massive and critical government health drive since it offers adequate space and accessibility to both our health care workers and the public,” Belmonte said.

The Araneta Group will provide medical personnel to help in the campaign.

“We’re grateful to our partners in the private sector as they continue to work with us in order to provide us with spacious and comfortable venues and to augment our manpower resources,” QC Business Permits and Licensing Department head Margie Santos said.

Santos added the Tzu Chi Medical Foundation Philippines, a NONPROfiT CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION, will also send volunteer doctors and nurses to help.

Quezon City earlier partnered with the Araneta Group in expanding its free Covid-19 swab testing drive.

The Araneta City Bus Port was used as a Covid-19 reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction saliva testing drive-thru site of the Philippine Red Cross.

“We are very pleased to accommodate the QC government’s vaccination campaign inside the Smart Araneta Coliseum. This is our contribution to the government’s efforts to control the surge of Covid-19 cases in the city and to improve public health,” Araneta Group senior vice president for operations Antonio Mardo said.