The city government of Davao has requested for the provision of COVID-19 vaccine booster shots to all hospital healthcare workers in the city.
A resolution was signed by the Davao City Council seeking the approval of the Department of Health in the region (DOH 11) on the proposal aiming to increase the protection of frontline workers.
Mayor Sara Duterte said positive cases among health workers and their exposure to COVID-19 patients pose a challenge in their current hospital staff capacity.
In preparation to a possible rise of COVID-19 deaths amid the current case surge, a 40-ft refrigerated container van from a private donor has been installed at the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) to expand its morgue capacity to 108.
The local government has also implemented home isolation for mild and asymptomatic COVID-19 patients and are provided telemedicine services by the COVID-19 task force.
Duterte said almost 365 patients are under home isolation, and added that district health offices have a checklist in selecting patients eligible for home quarantine.
The local government is set to open “Bakuna Nights” in two vaccination sites using a different vaccination team.
An executive order has also been signed for the mandatory vaccination of all city government employees. Duterte said around 13,000 of the 20,000 city government employees are fully vaccinated. – Report from Hanna Salcedo (PTV Davao)/AG-rir
