Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 24) — The construction of the mega vaccination site in Nayong Pilipino has started and is expected to be completed in a month or two, testing czar Vince Dizon said.
Speaking to CNN Philippines’ The Final Word, Dizon said the facility can inoculate up to 10,000 persons per day, which will greatly contribute to the government’s efforts to accelerate its COVID-19 immunization program.
“It will contribute a lot in our efforts to ramp up vaccinations as we move into the end of the second quarter and into the third quarter of 2021,” he said. “I think it’s important to know that based on the successful experiences of other countries, mega vaccination sites that can generate many vaccinations per day… are really the most efficient ways of ramping up vaccinations.”
The vaccination facility earlier drew criticism after advocates raised environmental concerns regarding its construction that will involve cutting of hundreds of trees. They also said the planned hub puts people with limited access and mobility options at a disadvantage, and that vaccination will only focus on “one company that controls one site that would need to be accessed by hundreds of thousands of people.”
But Dizon defended the proposal, saying mega vaccination hubs are essential as more COVID-19 doses start coming in and as immunization expands to cover more members of the population.
He also pointed out that the country does not have enough hubs to boost the immunization program since many facilities are already being used for quarantine and isolation and are still needed in case another surge occurs.
Earlier, the government approved the inclusion of more sectors under the A4 priority group in the list of COVID-19 vaccine beneficiaries. It also said the immunization of essential workers under this category and the indigent population will start “after May.”
Currently, the country has received over 7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, of which around 4 million doses have already been administered. The government targets to inoculate up to 70 million Filipinos by end of the year to achieve herd immunity.
