BAGUIO CITY– In line with the National Vaccination program, the Cordillera Regional Task Force COVID–19 is set to constitute a vaccine operations cluster to be chaired by the Regional Center for Health and Development (DOH–CAR).
The creation of the sub–task group was agreed upon during the January 14 Joint Coordination meeting of the Cordillera Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council and the RTF COVID–19.
Based on the COVID–19 National and Regional vaccination roadmap presented by Regional Director Dr. Ruby Constantino, the vaccination cluster will be in charge in the coordination for the government vaccination program and the consolidation of the vaccine procurement plan of the local government units at the provincial and regional level.
Constantino presented that for the vaccination program, the first priority eligible groups per the World Health Organization-Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization are frontline health workers in public and private health facilities, public health workers in the communities down to the barangay levels and in other national government agencies; indigent senior citizens; other senior citizens in the population; remaining indigents; and uniformed personnel (PNP, AFP, PCG, BFP, CAFGU).
Sharing the DOH–CAR’s initial data on profiling on said target priority population, Constantino said there are 585,347 eligibles in the region where 24,521 belong to the frontline health workers sector; 151,648 are senior citizens; 399,581 belong to the other indigent population , and 5,597 uniformed personnel.
The government is fast-tracking the roll out of the national vaccination program to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 which significantly increased after the Christmas holidays.
Meanwhile, CRDRRMC chairperson and Office of Civil Defense Regional Director Albert Mogol said policy guidelines are already put in place for the heightened alert of the CRDRRMC operations center for the strict monitoring of the prevailing threats of COVID–19 including the possible emergence of the new variants of the virus in the region.
This 2021, Mogol shared that as early as January 1, the CRDRRMC and RTF–19 have put in place OPLAN (Operation Plan) Multi – front Arrow Head which is the pro-active, advance and non –ending commitment of the council to provide protection to the lives and properties of the Cordilleras.
Like the “arrow head”, the CRDRRMC will shift as early as possible to multi–dimensional, multi–directional and multi–hazards approach to prevent unexpected incidents or disasters, particularly that the prevailing hazards of the COVID–19 are being complicated by other intervening factors”, Mogol said. **JDP/CCD-PIA CAR
