ILOILO City – The city government here has come up with this strategy to counter fake vaccination tickets: official passes shall only be issued by City Administrator Melchor Tan.
According to Mayor Jerry Treñas, he had already directed Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) Director Colonel Uldarico Garbanzos to deploy police personnel in the vaccination sites of the city.
These arise following earlier reports of persons selling vaccination tickets.
Treñas warned that those caught with fake tickets will be arrested by the police and shall be detained at the city jails. They could face charges for falsification of official documents.
He added that the mere possession of these fake tickets for vaccination shall be the evidence of the falsification.
If those found guilty are government employees, Treñas said the penalty shall include separation from the service and perpetual disqualification.
So far, this southern city has already administered 77,076 doses of various vaccines against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) since its March 2021 roll out. All of these jabs were donations from the national government.
As of June 29 Vaccination Report of the city, 65,049 have received their first doses – 14.46 percent of the target population.
A total 12,027 persons have been fully vaccinated. The remaining 53,022, meanwhile, are scheduled for second dose depending on required intervals of vaccines administered to them.
To achieve herd immunity, the city targets a total of 450,000 including 350,000 residents and 100,000 non-resident workers or 70 percent of total population.
“I thank the national government for the vaccine supplies as the city’s orders are expected to arrive this July,” said Treñas.
The metropolis earlier received Sinovac and AstraZeneca allocations from the Department of Health.
Meanwhile, preparations are underway to open more vaccination sites to accommodate many people to avail of city-purchased AstraZeneca, Novovax and other vaccines.
City Hall personnel are augmented by the Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection, Philippine Coast Guard, medical volunteers, and university employees in the vaccination process.
This southern city has these vaccination centers: Central Philippine University (CPU) gymnasium in Jaro district; Iloilo Convention Center and Ateneo School Gym (Mandurriao); and University of San Agustin Gym here.
Other vaccination sites earlier utilized were SM City mall in Mandurriao and John B. Lacson Foundation Maritime University in Arevalo district./PN
