Vaccination update
BAGUIO CITY-There is increased acceptance and eagerness to be vaccinated among Baguio residents including senior citizens, as evidenced by inquiries for online and onsite registration.
According to risk communication management officer Cecile Agpawa, this may be attributed to behavioral change due to national and local instructions received that are reliable and evidenced-based.
Mental health advocates are also working closely with authorities to help ease discomfort and anxiety when having vaccines. Education and information dissemination, instructions and pre-vaccine counselling are appropriate for some, but doubts and lingering questions about the anti-Covid vaccines may manifest through nervousness and increased blood pressure just before the actual vaccine administration, Agpawa admitted during the regular media forum last week.
Thus, vaccinees go through counselling and briefing or information sharing from health workers just before the vaccination. They are also giving instructions to stay in the vicinity for at least an hour for observation of side or after effects of the vaccine. Instructions are given that some side effects are normally felt by vaccinees, same as what are observed in infants or toddlers.
Accordingly, priority vaccinees are health workers, followed by senior citizens who were skipped over as the vaccines may not be appropriate for those over the age of 60.
For masterlisting, Barangay Health Emergency Response Team (BHERTs) members are helping out, Agpawa said.
Individuals with co-morbidities are also requested to bring legitimate medical certificates from physicians or authorized health personnel, to be registered properly.
Registered vaccinees are given instructions to wait for messages from the health center in order to proceed to vaccination sites. This is to avoid jostling and crowding at the site, and they should wear face masks, face shield and practice social distancing.
Available vaccines shall be administered as they arrive, Agpawa said.
Priority for vaccination are the following: frontline health workers, sr. citizens 60 years old and above, those with comorbidities, frontliners and the working sector as deemed proper by the Inter-Agency Task Force and the indigent population.
The rest follows: teachers and social workers, other government and essential workers, those at high risk other than senior citizens, overseas foreign workers, and the rest of the population. βjuliegfianza
