The Quezon City government began today (July 28) the rollout of single-dose Janssen COVID-19 vaccine in District 2, with senior citizens as priority recipients.
Mayor Joy Belmonte said the prioritization of senior citizens was in part due to the Delta variant threat, increasing number of cases, and vulnerability of “underprivileged communities” given their limited capacity to afford hospitalization.
“The decision to focus this vaccine supply on District 2 is based on sound evidence, including the number of cases per hundred thousand, number of deaths, and other factors like minimal health-seeking behavior affecting the senior citizens in the area,” Belmonte said in a statement.
The Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Unit said COVID-19 cases in the district rose by 21% in the past two weeks, with its case count of 13,834 accounting for 13% of the city’s total cases at 106,147.
The five-barangay district, which has the highest population count of at least 738,000 among all districts, also has the highest COVID-19 death tally in the city.
The Quezon government aims to vaccinate 1.7 million individuals in the city.
Meanwhile, eight areas were placed under special concern lockdown or localized lockdown due to an increasing number of cases. The affected residents were placed under mandatory 14-day quarantine and were tested for the disease. – Report from Allan Francisco/AG- jlo #
