PARANAQUE CITY, (PIA) --The National Government, Paranaque City Government, and International Terminal Container Services, Inc. (ICTSI) launched on Thursday the Solaire ICTSI Foundation, Inc. Vaccine Center (SIVC) located here at the Bagong Nayong Pilipino in a bid to ramp up the country’s COVID-19 vaccination rate.

According to Paranaque Mayor Edwin Olivarez, the facility will not only cater to the city’s residents, but will also accommodate those coming from other areas.

“Wala pong pipiliin dito sa vaccination center, para po sa bawat Pilipino (No one will be left out here in the vaccination center, this is for every Filipino),” Olivarez said, adding that the city’s indigent population will be given priority at the facility.

“Ang balak po ng ating mga LGU, sila po ay isha-shuttle po papunta rito para magkaroon po yung A5 natin, yung indigent (population) ng vaccination (Our LGUs wanted to shuttle our indigent population here so they may participate in the vaccination),” the mayor added.

The combined ambulatory and drive-thru vaccination hub can accommodate up to 15,000 vaccinations per day depending on the supply of vaccines and the number of recipients, said ICTSI Executive Vice-President Christian Martin R. Gonzalez

“The initiative of course is driven by the national government and the city of Paranaque. We, as part of (the) private sector group, are only participating in terms of funding and organization,” Gonzales said.

“But this sits on government land, it will remain government land, and will be operated under the guidance of the national and city government,” he added.

Gonzalez said the national government has initially allocated 50,000 Moderna vaccine doses for the facility.

Currently, only the facility’s drive-thru vaccination hub is operational. Its ambulatory service for walk-ins will be open by September.

Meanwhile, Secretary Vivencio Dizon, testing czar and National Task Force against COVID-19 deputy chief implementer, noted that the contractor of the vaccination hub took into careful consideration the environmental impact of the facility’s construction.

“Wala ni isang puno ang pinutol dito sa Nayong Pilipino. (No trees were cut here in Nayong Pilipino.) 'Yung mga puno dito na-preserve… kahit na kailangan nating magtayo ng ganitong facility, inaalagaan pa rin natin ang environment natin (The trees here have been preserved eventhough we have to put up this kind of facility, we are still looking after the environment),” Dizon said.

For his part, Secretary Carlito G. Galvez, Jr., vaccine czar and National Task Force against COVID-19 chief implementer, said he was pleased with the opening of the mega vaccination hub, which he described as a game-changer in the government’s fight against COVID-19.

“The facility will definitely encourage more people to get inoculated, especially those coming from Metro Manila and our nearby provinces like Cavite, Batangas, and Laguna,” Galvez said. (PIA-NCR)