THE CITY government is in dire need of 30 more swabbers to extract samples for the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
“Because duna poy panghitabo nga naga resign, mohawa ang atong mga swabbers. We need to continuously recruit and train para di gyud ta mahutdan og swabbers (There are instances when our swabbers have resigned. We need to continuously recruit and train, so we do not run out of swabbers),” Mayor Sara Duterte said during the Davao City Disaster Radio program yesterday.
The Human Resources Management Office was tasked to recruit swabbers.
According to the Department of Health, the minimum requirement to become a swabber is that the applicant should be a graduate of a health or allied health course. For example, they should have a background in caregiving, healthcare services, emergency medical service, and barangay health service.
They will be deployed in the swabbing centers of the city.
“Duna diay requirement sa balaod nga each vaccination team should have a doctor. So, naga recruit pud ta og mga doctors karon. We are seeking their help until Dec. 31 (The law also requires each vaccination team to have at least one doctor. So, we are also hiring doctors now and we are seeking their help until Dec. 31),“ she said.
“They will be paid just to help with the testing, tracing, isolation, quarantining and vaccination,” she added.
The mayor said the city still continues its surveillance swabbing, as well as its plan to launch two swabbing sites in Brokenshire and Barangay Los Amigos.
“Definitely kaning duha ka laboratories, makapa increase ni siya sa atoang swabbing activities. The only way na maka discover na positive cases ug makasugod ta og contact tracing.
Importante gyud nga kaayo ni siya and padaghanon pa gyud nato dapat ang atoang swabbing activities (These two laboratories will boost our swabbing activities. It is important to ramp up our swabbing activities to discover more positive cases and begin contact tracing),” she said.
The city earlier announced that it would open additional vaccination sites to speed up its vaccination program.
Dr. Ashley Lopez, the City Health Office acting head, said during the ‘COVID-19 Alert’ program on May 19 that the city government is set to open nine more vaccination sites to accommodate more vaccinees.
Currently, the city has 11 operational vaccination hubs aside from private hospitals offering immunization to individuals. The city government targets to open at least 20 vaccination sites as inoculation for senior citizens continues.
“At least naa tay ma-set up nga baynte ka mga vaccination sites in different strategic places in different districts in Davao City, so that ma-cater nato as much as possible tanang mga vaccinees nato (At least we hope to set up 20 vaccination sites in different strategic places in different districts in Davao City, so that we can cater to more vaccinees as much as possible),”
Lopez said.
He also said that putting up additional vaccination sites in the city will expedite the process of vaccination so that all vaccines will be consumed before they expire and reach their shelf life.
Among the operating vaccination hubs in the city to date are at SM Lanang Premier, SM City Davao in Ecoland, A. Mabini Elementary School, Matina Aplaya Elementary School, Malagos Elementary School, Crossing Bayabas National High School, Kor-Phil Vocational Training Center in Bunawan, Calinan Central Elementary School, Magallanes Elementary School, Mintal Elementary School and Buhangin Elementary School.
With the added vaccination hubs, the city government targets to inoculate 500 to 700 vaccinees per day.
According to Lopez, Davao City belongs to the prioritized metropolitan areas, along with Metro Manila and Cebu City, that will be provided a larger allocation of vaccines.
“Kita, naa ta’y target nga 1.2 million. That’s the reason why we belong to the priority city nga tagaan og dakong alokasyon aning mga bakuna (We have a target of 1.2 million [population]. That’s the reason why we belong to the priority city that will be allocated larger doses of vaccines),” Lopez explained.
As of May 15, the city has received a total of 29,119 doses of COVID-19 vaccines since March this year. CIO
