At a Laging Handa briefing, NTF medical adviser Dr. Ted Herbosa said NTF Chief Implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier announced they will visit the BARMM to identify why the vaccination progress is still low in those areas and encourage residents there to get the COVID-19 jab.
While many areas have reached their target of 70% vaccinated population, Herbosa said they will still analyze how to speed up the inoculation drive in places with low vaccination rate, particularly in the Mindanao region., thus it will be the government’s focus during the extension of the third wave of its mass vaccination drive.
Another obstacle that he noted was that the vaccination sites in these areas are not as accessible to the public as they are in Metro Manila. “Because of that, hindi mo agad ma-deploy sa mga remote areas and you have to be…’yung parang ‘yung supply chain management mo kailangan precise para walang masasayang na mga bakuna,” he said.
[It is very important to maintain the cold chain while the vaccines are delivered to the remote areas in Mindanao.] Aside from the vehicles, the Korean government also provided assistance for the construction of a molecular laboratory and isolation facility in Bayawan City, Negros Oriental. The Republic of Korea has also previously provided donations of walk-through testing booths and testing kits.