Mayor issues measure to harmonize city’s vaccination program
BAGUIO CITY – (17 February 2021) – Mayor Benjamin Magalong has issued, February 15, executive order no. 23, series of 2021, creating an Inter-Agency Task Force to plan and implement the Baguio City coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) deployment and immunization program.
It aims to ensure the safe and successful inoculation of at least 70 percent of the city’s target population in order to achieve “herd immunity”, among others.
Implementing agencies tasked in the EOs execution are the Department of Health-Center for Health Development, Cordillera as lead agency; city government of Baguio thru the Health Services Office; civil society groups, community organizations and private sector partners.
The Baguio City Police Office (BCPO); barangay units and Sanggunian Kabataan (SK); private clinics and medical societies; and hospitals are also included.
Each agency is given its specific functions and responsibilities.
A City Task Force is created chaired by the Mayor, co-chaired by councilor Joel Alangsab who heads the august body’s committee on health, and City Health Officer Rowena Galpo as action officer.
Members are from various concerned government offices, line agencies, hospitals, medical societies, and others from the private sector.
To develop and enact health policies relative to the planning and implementation of the Covid-19 vaccine deployment program; develop the Covid-19 vaccine deployment plan and oversee its implementation; monitor the implementation of the Plan and establish systems of mechanisms necessary to support its implementation; are some of its functions.
The EO also establishes a Vaccination Operations Center with the Mayor as chair and Galpo as co-chair.
It is supported by teams: Planning, campaign management, monitoring and technical; cold chain and logistics; coordination; vaccine safety, surveillance and response; communications, advocacy and partnership; secretariat, registry and data management; healthcare waste management.
Roles and composition of vaccination teams are also spelled out in the order.
Teams are from local district health centers; city hospitals; Baguio-Benguet Medical Society; Philippine Nurses Association-Baguio chapter; medical personnel of the Department of Education-District of Baguio, Bureau of Fire Protection, and Bureau of Jail Management; BCPO; barangays units; SK; other private partners.
“The city envisions a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach in order to harmonize efforts needed for the successful and effective implementation of the citywide covid-19 vaccination program,” the measures states. – Gaby B. Keith
