CAGAYAN de Oro is aiming to vaccinate a total of 112,961 senior citizens in the city, of which 39,852 are of ages 69 and above.
According to City Health Office medical officer Dr. Ted Yu, apart from the data, the health team is studying options for non-ambulatory senior citizens or senior citizens who are unable to walk or who may be mobile with the help of a wheelchair or other monility devices.
“Unsaon na ma reach sila na hindi man sila makapunta sa mga health facilities so the health team is studying that option,” Yu said.
Acting City Health Officer Dr. Lorraine Nery, for her part, said there are hospitals that manifested their intention to have their facility be the venue for the vaccination rollout for senior citizens.
“Ga consider ang team og venue for the senior citizens nga kung mahimo hospital-based sila kay naa na may mga hosptial gyud nga nag manifest sa ilahang intention nga magtabang sila nga paggamit nila ang ilang venue,” Nery said.
“So we are considering that. Finalization na lang ang kulang nato,” she added.
Yu also urged the senior citizens in the city to coordinate with their senior citizen organizations or chapter president to prevent anyone from getting not receiving their dose of the vaccine.
Meanwhile, Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) Research Center head Dr. Gina Itchon said that some of the senior citizen frontline healthcare workers in their hospital, including her, have opted to get their first dose of the Sinovac vaccine rather than waiting for the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“We have an allocation for AstraZeneca pero kadaghanan sa amo, ako senior naman sad ko, nagpabakuna naman mi sa Sinovac kay we were not sure whether the AstraZeneca vaccine was still coming,” Itchon said.
Itchon said that while the Sinovac vaccine is for 18 to 59 years old, it does not mean that it is bad for the seniors.
“It just means na when they were doing their clinical trials, there was not enough evidence for the older age groups, kay gamay ra, either wala or gamay ra ang ilang naapil naa nga age group. That’s why di sila ga-recommend kay wala silay enough evidence,” Itchon said.
Itchon, who is 60 years old, got her first dose of the Sinovac vaccine on March 8.
