Bulacan malls host vax rollout for minors
MARILAO, Bulacan – Hundreds of "walk-in" minors were vaccinated against coronavirus disease (Covid-19) during the second national rollout of the "Bayanihan, Bakunahan" as three SM malls in this province hosted the activities on Thursday.
With their guardians and minding the health protocols such as safe physical distancing, youth aged 12 to 17 queued to get inoculated with Pfizer and Moderna vaccines at the mall's branches in Marilao, San Jose Del Monte, and Baliwag.
During screening and registration, children found with comorbidities were prioritized and referred to the Bulacan Medical Center to ensure immediate medical attention would be given in case of any adverse effects following immunization.
Authorities in the vaccination cluster said the vaccination statistics among the youth rose sharply after the new Omicron variant of Covid-19 came out in the news.
In their effort to help ramp up the local government units' "Bayanihan, Bakunahan", SM Malls in this province expanded their vaccination set up.
“We expand our vax site at the mall by using our event center and cinemas to accommodate more vaccinees and to encourage everyone to get vaccinated so we could enjoy safe Christmas,” SM City Marilao mall manager Emmanuel Gatmaitan said in an interview.
For the three-day national vaccination drive from Wednesday up to Friday, the municipality of Marilao offers first and second doses using the Pfizer and Sinovac brands.
Moderna booster shots will likewise be administered to those who have been fully inoculated three months since their one-dose Janssen jab and six months after their second dose of the other vaccine brands.
The town is targeting 300 walk-ins each for the pediatric, adult, and booster category on Thursday and 200 walk-ins for each of the three categories on Friday.
It is eyeing to achieve population protection and vaccinate at least 127,560 residents which are 70 percent of its town population.
Meanwhile, the city government of San Jose Del Monte targets to inoculate 1,300 residents per day.
To cater to the city’s population, walk-ins are accepted for the pediatric, adult, and booster categories using Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Moderna vaccines.
Baliwag town, on the other hand, urged the adult population to get vaccinated to achieve the so-called "cocoon" effect to protect the children at home. More than 5,000 vaccines are allotted for walk-ins for the town's "Bayanihan, Bakunahan". Vaccines available are Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Sinovac brands. (PNA)