CEBU CITY, Cebu, July 11 (PIA) -- Mayors of the City of Carcar and the Municipality of Cordova in Cebu urged everyone to fight the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by getting vaccinated or 'Resbakuna' during the town halls conducted on June 15 and June 22, respectively.

Carcar City Mayor Mercedita Apura hopes that the Resbakun Town Hall would be able to provide a clear and better understanding of the importance of getting vaccinated knowing that one of the city's concerns is the senior citizens who have not yet been inoculated when they are the second group (A2) in the priority list as they are the most vulnerable population against the virus aside from the medical frontliners who are the first (A1) on the list.

The World Health Organization Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization formulated the prioritization framework for COVID-19 vaccination due to the limited global supply of COVID-19 vaccines.

"Isip mga frontliners sa atong siyudad sa Carcar especially sa atong mga barangay officials, sa atong mga barangay captains na gipangulohan diin dako kaayong gamit niini karon atong gipaninguhaan makuha ang herd immunity aron mubalik 'ta ngadto sa normal kay kung dili ta magtinabangay problema gyud kaayo (As frontliners of our City of Carcar especially our barangay officials and captains [in the battle against COVID-19], we aim to achieve herd immunity so that we would be able to return to normal because if we don't work together it would really be a problem)," Apura said. 

The mayor said through them and the different sectors, she hopes they would be able to achieve what they want which is to return to normal; not new normal but to their normal lives before the pandemic struck.

The Philippine Information Agency 7 in partnership with the Department of Health 7 and the Department of Interior and Local Government 7 have been conducting the Resbakuna Town Hall in all cities and towns of Cebu province.

The PIA 7-initiated activity aims to "explain, explain, explain" to the public at the grassroots level the COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment Plan which will empower the barangays to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 by disseminating the right information to its residents and boost their confidence and uptake of vaccines.

"We hope nga dinhi sa atong siyudad sa Carcar, mu 100 percent gyud ta ang turnover. Na kitang tanan Carcaranons mabakunahan na gyud. Tuo lang gyud mo, ang bakuna ra gyuy kasulbaran sa atong problema gitagamtam karon (We hope that here in our City of Carcar, we would have a 100 percent turnover that all Carcaranons would be vaccinated. Trust that the vaccine is the solution to the problem we are facing now)," Apura said.

Meanwhile, Cordova Municipal Mayor Mary Therese Sitoy-Cho hopes that all would cooperate in the vaccination rollout since there are still a lot of people who are afraid of the vaccine, citing one of the beliefs that getting inoculated means being injected with the virus.

"Mao nay understanding sa kadaghanan. Turukan ug COVID o virus pero dili na mao. Turukan 'ta og pampa-boost sa atoang immune system so mao nay dapat sabtan sa tanan na dili lang ta mahadlok. Even gani ang naay sakit sa high blood, diabetes, ug uban pa pwede man magpabakuna (That is the understanding of many, being injected with COVID or virus but that is not correct. We are injected with a booster for our immune system. We hope that people would understand that. Even those people with high blood pressure, diabetes, etc. are getting vaccinated)," Sitoy-Cho said. 

The Cordova mayor hopes that the people who are already on the priority list would grab the opportunity that the government has provided for them.

Present during the fora were guest speakers PIA-7 Regional Head Fayette Riñen who gave the rationale of the activity; Dr. Shelbay Blanco, Medical Officer III and head of DOH-7 Health Emergency and Management Staff Unit, who discussed the "COVID-19 Vaccine Program: 10 Must Knows for Everyone" which entailed the Demand Generation, Adverse Event Following Immunization, Role of LGUs, and the Prioritization List in the vaccination rollout; and Rommel Correa, head of Project Development Management Unit and Emergency Operations Center of the DILG-7, who focused on "Strengthening the public information and education at the Local Government Unit level.” (RMN/PIA7/Ileana D. Cortes)