CALOOCAN CITY, (PIA) -- The Quezon City Government has administered more than 1 million total vaccine doses since it started its vaccination program last March.

As of July 13, 1,013,988 jabs have been rolled out. Out of this number, 686,311 or 40.37% of the 1.7 million target population have received their first doses while 327,677 or 19.28% of the same target are fully protected after receiving their second doses.

Mayor Joy Belmonte attributes the success of the city’s vaccination program to its fleet of healthcare workers, volunteers, and auxiliary personnel.

“From our police officers who ensure that the vaccine supply is secure from the warehouse to the sites, the doctors, nurses and other medical workers who screen patients and administer the vaccineS, up to the volunteers who marshal our sites, distribute forms, and clean up after,  and the encoders who record our patients' data individually — the continuous success of our program is due to your unwavering efforts. We are truly grateful for your service to our QCitizens,” Belmonte said.

The QCProtektodo Vaccination Program has been constantly improving with the help and support of the city’s many stakeholders including malls, homeowners associations, religious groups, medical organizations, schools and universities, government agencies, private sector groups, business establishments, and many others.

For the past weeks, the vaccination program has consistently reached record-high numbers. Last June 23, the city government posted a new record by administering more than 45,000 vaccines in one day.

“The key has always been a whole of city approach where all stakeholders, public and private, join hands to collaborate on this program. Through this, we are confident we will reach our goal of population protection in the coming months for as long as soon as vaccine supply stabilizes,” Belmonte said.

Different vaccine brands such as Sinovac, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Gamaleya, and Moderna have been administered to members of the A1-A5 priority groups. Whenever there is enough supply of vaccines, the city government can operate around 50 vaccination sites simultaneously.

Joseph Juico, co-chair of the QC Task Force Vax to Normal shared that the city will continue to expand and improve its inoculation efforts.

“While this achievement is an important milestone for the program, we can only relax once we have inoculated the last QCitizen eligible for the vaccine,” Juico said.

“We can no longer feel the vaccine hesitancy, instead what we have now is vaccine envy where people demand they get vaccinated. However, our problem continues to be the irregular supply of vaccines which we hope will be addressed as the procured and donated supplies arrive regularly into the country,” Juico added.

Belmonte appeals to QCitizens to be patient as the local government awaits its vaccine allocations,  and to remain vigilant despite being vaccinated.

“Nagpapasalamat ako sa mga QCitizens na nakikiisa sa QC Government sa patuloy na programa ng pagpapabakuna. Sa oras na may dumating na bakuna ay agad namin itong ibibigay sa inyo.”

 “Para naman sa mga nabakunahan, patuloy pa rin tayong sumunod sa basic health protocols para maprotektahan pa rin natin ang ating sarili, pamilya, at mga kapwa QCitizen,” Belmonte said. (QC PAISD/PIA-NCR)