Gov’t eyes mega vaccination sites

Gearing up for simultaneous COVID-19 inoculation activities among all sectors, the government is now looking at having mega vaccination sites in key areas of the country, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday.

For starters, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire noted at a press briefing that the Nayong Pilipino in Pasay City, which is now closed, will be one of the mega vaccination sites.

Vergeire said National Task Force against COVID-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. and Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat have already agreed on the use of the cultural theme park as a vaccination center.

“We will open it as one of the mega vaccination sites. Aside from that, the private sector has committed, as part of their corporate social responsibility, to free their areas that can be converted into big vaccination sites,” she said.

Nayong Pillipino shall cater to vaccinees from Metro Manila.

Vergeire added that the private sector has also committed to deploy manpower to help manage the inoculation activities.

Quirino Grandstand

The National Parks Development Committee (NPDC) has authorized the conversion of Quirino Grandstand into a vaccination site that can accommodate up to 400 individuals a day.

Puyat yesterday announced that the NPDC has approved the request of Manila Mayor Isko Moreno to turn parts of Rizal Park into a vaccination area and a mobile hospital.

The board of directors of the NPDC, an attached agency of the Department of Tourism (DOT), has permitted the city government of Manila to set up a drive-thru vaccination facility on Independence Road of the Quirino Grandstand.

Likewise, the NPDC approved Moreno’s petition to build a mobile hospital at Burnham Green in Rizal Park. In his letter to the agency, the mayor asked to put up the medical facility at no cost to the national government, as he vowed that the city leadership would finance everything, from design to management.

The mobile hospital will be used to admit patients if the city suffers another surge of COVID-19 transmissions. Moreno committed to restore Burnham Green to its original condition once the mobile hospital is removed from the area.

Puyat said the retrofitting of tourism sites into vaccination sites and health facilities will serve the medical needs of everyone, not just residents of Manila.

“Through the temporary mobile hospital that will be constructed in Rizal Park, and the drive-thru vaccination site at the Quirino Grandstand, the DOT has repurposed its tourism sites to support the current efforts to protect the public’s health and safety during the crisis,” Puyat said.

“These facilities will be open to all, not just residents of Manila,” she added.

Puyat explained the mobile hospital will admit patients experiencing mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms.

A drive-thru RT-PCR testing facility is also located at Quirino Grandstand. It used to extend rapid testing for up to 700 persons daily, before it was converted into RT-PRC testing in January that can take in 100 individuals every day.

Aside from NPDC’s assets, Nayong Pilipino Foundation, another attached agency of the DOT, has also allowed the government to transform its vacant lot in Parañaque City into a vaccination site.

Once completed, it can accommodate at least 12,000 persons every day, and is therefore seen to accelerate efforts to immunize the public.