A COVID-19 vaccination hub will open its doors in UP Diliman tomorrow, April 28, after the university partnered with the Quezon City government to expand its mass vaccination program.
The university has repurposed the gym at the College of Human Kinetics to serve as one of the city’s seven vaccination sites.
The hub will prioritize residents inside the UPD campus before accommodating other Quezon City residents, UP Vice President for Public Affairs Elena Pernia said. It will also follow the Department of Health’s A1 (frontline health workers), A2 (senior citizens), and A3 (persons with comorbidities) vaccine priority list.
The UP Diliman vaccination hub will begin inoculating residents tomorrow and is expected to run for three months.
UP Diliman Vice Chancellor for Community Affairs (OVCCA) Aleli Bawagan said that aside from the physical vaccination site, UPD will also be in-charge of its management and operations.
Bawagan added that the number of vaccine doses that will be used in vaccination will depend on the supply given by Quezon City.
However, due to the “lack of personnel and budget constraints”, UP is looking for around 300 to 500 volunteers to help manage the vaccination program.
“We have current employees who will be in charge to supervise the whole operations, but since we do not have sufficient medical staff, we need volunteers to help in specific steps in the process,” Bawagan said.
The hub called for UP and non-UP-affiliated volunteer health workers including doctors, nurses, physical therapists, emergency medical technicians, veterinarians and pharmacists, among others.
Community volunteers are also needed to serve as health educators, helpdesk, logistics and IT support staff for the facility.
Medical staff volunteers are asked to render at least three days of service in the facility whereas community volunteers are required to serve for at least seven days of service.
Volunteers are entitled to be vaccinated and will have free meals during their service.
Those who would like to be volunteers in the QC-UP vaccination program can visit this link to sign up.
Quezon City residents who would like to register to get vaccinated can sign up here.
Quezon City, the Metro Manila with the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila currently has six vaccination sites with a target of inoculating 400-500 people a day.
However, only four out of six vaccination sites are hitting their target, said Quezon City Vaccination Task Force Head Joseph Juico in a Rappler report.
In the Philippines, 1,562,563 doses have been administered out of 3,025,600 doses that have been distributed to 17 regions, as of April 20.
