DRIVE-THRU VAX. The city government of Iloilo opens its drive-through vaccination on Monday (Jan. 31, 2022). The rollout seeks to reach out to individuals who want to avail themselves of their booster dose. (Photo from Iloilo City Government's FB page)
ILOILO CITY – The local government here on Monday commenced its drive-through vaccination for the booster shots of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) jabs.
In an interview, Jeck Conlu, spokesperson for the Iloilo City Covid Team, said the rollout was successful because the process was faster, so those who have vehicles can just drop by the two sites.
“It has good results. Even taxi and tricycle drivers passed by to avail of their booster shots,” he said.
As of lunchtime, he said they were able to cater to around 100 individuals each at the SM Strata and Megaworld Transport Hub.
Conlu said they target to vaccinate around 300 individuals per day.
Apart from the issue of traffic congestion at the service road, which they already anticipated, so far, they have not seen any other possible concerns that may arise from the drive-through vaccination, he said.
He added that they will see the outcome after one week if they could be ready to also administer second doses.
“For now we will only cater to booster shots. Hopefully, we can add more sites for our drive-thru,” he said.
The city government decided to open a drive-thru to be able to cater to more people who want to avail of their booster dose.
The SM Strata drive-through offers Pfizer booster shots for city residents, and those working and vaccinated in Iloilo City.
Megaworld has Moderna vaccine and will be open to the public, whether or not they are residents of the city.
Apart from the drive-through, the vaccination rollout also continues in the city’s mega-sites at the SM City Southpoint, Robinsons-Jaro, Megaworld Transport Hub, and district health centers.
As of January 20, the city government has recorded 435,510 fully-vaccinated individuals. (PNA)
