Another vaccination site, the ninth for Taguig City, is now open at Cinemas 1 and 5 of the Venice Grand Canal Mall in McKinley Hill, the city government announced Thursday.
This was after the local government partnered with Megaworld Corporation to use the mall’s cinemas in its vaccination program.
Mayor Lino Edgardo Cayetano said the Venice Grand Canal Mall Vaccination hub will expedite the city’s ongoing vaccination rollout, with two vaccination teams per cinema conducting inoculations to an estimated 400-people capacity daily.
“We have a good number of vaccines supplies as of now. We were told by the national government that there will be more in June. With that, the job of the LGU is to make sure that vaccination is safe, fast, and accessible. The city of Taguig wants to focus on those three things. So, we will continue to aggressively plan our vaccination rollout,” said Cayetano.
The city chief executive said that safety is also ensured, as air exchange is monitored in both cinemas in accordance with the Labor Department’s Order No. 224, Series of 2021.
The city government had already established Mega Vaccination Hubs at Vista Mall, SM Aura, and BGC High Street to ensure that all vaccinees may feel comfortable and safe during vaccination.
Taguig is looking to partner with more malls and other spacious establishments to provide safe and spacious places where citizens may get vaccinated swiftly.
The head of the World Health Organization Philippine Office earlier commended Taguig City and Mayor Cayetano for having an efficient vaccination rollout.
“Mr. Mayor, sincere thanks for your leadership. We really appreciate this initiative on your part. Installing a training center and having an excellent process, we encourage other local government units to possibly learn from your experience and duplicate such processes that already have been established. It is commendable, and we really salute your leadership and initiative,” said Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe, WHO Head in the Philippines.
The city government aimed to vaccinate 5,600 individuals per day starting June 1 in the city’s ‘short-term’ projection.
This week, the city expects to hit 65,000 of the 650,000 individuals eligible for vaccination.
Cayetano said only those with confirmed vaccination schedule will be accommodated at the vaccination sites.
“Strictly no walk-ins. Citizens can schedule their own vaccination appointment online or thru the Taguig TRACE self-service kiosks located in your barangays,” he said.
To date, Taguig has established nine operational vaccination hubs throughout the city with more sites underway. A total of 54,287 individuals belonging to the A1 (medical front-liners), A2 (senior citizens), and A3 (persons with comorbidities) categories have been vaccinated as of May 18.
