THE House of Representatives conducted a drive-thru vaccination Friday to deliver the second dose of COVID-19 vaccines to its House employees and their dependents.
Dr. Raffy Valencia, Director II (Officer-in-Charge) of the House Medical and Dental Service (MDS) said it was House Secretary General Mark Llandro Mendoza who suggested trying the drive-thru system.
Valencia clarified that this was not purely a drive-thru.
“Kasi when we say drive-thru, lahat naka kotse. Meron tayong mga beneficiaries na wala naman silang sasakyan”, he explained.
Valencia then proceeded to describe what happened during the drive-thru. He said a shuttle carrying about four beneficiaries would bring them to the verification area, then to the vaccination site, and finally, to the monitoring area. Valencia said the “blended” drive-thru was an innovation of Mendoza to really see the flow of the vaccination process. “Sa ngayon nagfa-fine tune tayo, makikita natin kung maganda ba yong kalalabasan, so mag-aadjust tayo from here,” he said.
Valencia said the drive-thru is faster since it does away with triaging, one of the usual steps in the conduct of mass vaccinations that was done in the earlier months.
Valencia said since the delivery was for the second dose, “wala ng doctor’s assessment, wala ng triaging, kukuha ng blood pressure.”
He said they were expecting about 143 House employees and their dependents to come for their second dose during the drive-thru.
But Valencia expected that not all would come. He said some of them went home to their provinces.
“Di rin natin sila masisisi dahil naka set sila November 18, pero na move kasi to November 5,” he said.
Earlier in the morning, about 50 percent of the total number of beneficiaries had already received their second jabs. Valencia revealed that the House already reached the target herd immunity, saying more than 70 percent of the House secretariat was already fully vaccinated.
“For the staff of the House members, lower than 70 percent but di naman ganun kalayo,” he said. He said with the drive-thru, “nag dry-run lang tayo”.
The main problem they encountered during the drive-thru was the smoke coming from the cars, he said.
“Kawawa yung mga frontliner dahil naamoy nila. Our mask is not vapor-proof,” Valencia said.
He cautioned the public not to lower their guards even as COVID-19 cases have started to go down.
“Kaya lagi naming sinasabi, you mask up, practice social distancing and frequent handwashing. Ganun pa rin. We encourage everyone to get vaccinated,” Valencia said.
