The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) enjoins all local government units (LGUs) of the National Capital Region (NCR), Regions 3, 4-A, and 6 to submit and update their LGU Vaccination Masterlist, specifically the senior citizens, indigents, and informal settlers (IS), through the Vaccine Management System-Immunization Registry (VIMS-IR) for proper verification.
VIMS-IR is a joint project between the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) which functions as citizen vaccination capture and automation; provider management and automation; supply chain management; and VIMS dashboarding, reporting, and analytics.
DILG Officer-in-Charge (OIC) and Undersecretary Bernardo C. Florece, Jr. said that LGU compliance on the registration of prospective recipients is vital in ensuring that all qualified citizens will be inoculated. He said that LGUs should treat VIMS-IR as their ally in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is imperative that the LGUs of NCR, Regions 3, 4-A, and 6 are on board with the registration of vaccine recipients especially the senior citizens and indigents within their jurisdiction. We direct them to use VIMS-IR in doing so as this is the system devised by the government for this specific purpose,” he said.
“Hangad namin ang pakikiisa ng mga pamahalaang lokal, hindi lamang sa paggamit ng VIRM-IR, lalong-lalo na ang pagtatala o pagrehistro ng kanilang mga kababayang prayoridad sa pagbabakuna,” he added.
Florece said that with the current reality on the scarcity of available vaccines to be disposed of in the national vaccination program, diligent compliance to government advisories and policies such as the preparation, updating, and submission of the LGU Vaccination Masterlist through VIMS-IR, can spell a great difference.
He said that such a step can help ease the vaccination process creating a seamless deployment down to the grassroots level. “This may just be a simple list for some ngunit napakahalaga nito sa pagpapanatili ng maayos na sistema ng pagbabakuna sa bansa.”
The National COVID-19 Task Force, he said, has vouched on this system and requested the DILG to ensure that all LGU Masterlists are updated and submitted through the VIMS-IR.
Through an urgent DILG memorandum released on March 25, Florece urges all local chief executives (LCEs) to spearhead the production of the LGU Vaccination Mastelist for frontline health workers; senior citizens; and indigents, especially the IS.
The said memorandum marked March 31 as the deadline for the updating of the masterlist for senior citizens while on or before April 10, 2021, LGUs are required to integrate into the VIRM-IR the list of indigent vaccine recipients.
The DREAM factor
To ensure that LGUs will have an easier experience using VIMS-IR, Florece encouraged local governments to closely coordinate with their DICT counterparts “for needed technical assistance.”
“VIMS-IR is a relatively new system. Though navigation [of VIMS-IR] was made easier, LGUs must get the assistance of the people from DICT who developed it. Hinihikayat po natin ang mga pamahalaang lokal na makipag-ugnayan sa DICT,” he said.
In the said memorandum, the DILG OIC said that LGUs can communicate with the Data Resiliency for Ease of Access and Management (DREAM) Team of the DICT for technical assistance on the use of the system.
Meanwhile, Florece further said that for other guidance on how to use VIMS-IR, LGUs can access tiny.com/VIMSIRdocs which contains training videos and materials including Webex training schedules; instructions to request for access; excel templates; and, past training-video recording with frequently asked questions (FAQs). (Press Release)
