THE DAVAO City’s contact tracers underwent training on family profiling to assist the Vaccination Cluster and its partners, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Unicef, for the house-to-house mobile vaccination in the barangays.
Dr. Michelle Schlosser, City COVID-19 Task Force spokesperson, during the COVID-19 Alert program of 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio on March 30, said that family profiling is one of their strategies to improve the vaccination rates for the first dose, second dose, and boosters among the 12-year-olds and above population group.
“Once mahuman, we will consolidate the data para makabalo ta who among the families wala pa nabakuhan sa COVID-19 kay mao ang suyuron sa atong mobile vaccination (Once the family profiling is completed, we will consolidate the data so we will know who among the families have not yet received COVID-19 vaccine as the mobile vaccination team will go after them).”
Dr. Schlosser said the city has a target population and actual population but, sometimes, the vaccination in the target population is either too fast or too slow.
“We need to have actual population para makabalo ta sa actual na nabakunahan so we will do a family profiling. Apart from that, we’re going to involve katong mga barangays, especially atong BHERTs and barangay functionaries. They’ll be helping the district health offices to consolidate kinsa ang mga barangay under sa ilang distrito ang gamay lang kaayo nabakunahan or wala pa nabakunahan (We need to have an actual population to know the actual number of those vaccinated so we will do a family profiling. Apart from that, we’re going to involve the barangays, especially the Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams functionaries. They’ll be helping the district health offices to consolidate which barangays in their districts have low vaccination rollout or have individuals who have not yet been vaccinated).”
A family profiling will be first conducted in Bunawan and Toril.
The city health official, however, said they already anticipated some hesitancy from some barangay residents. This is why they intend to push through with the mobile vaccination aside from the ones being spearheaded by the Vice Mayor’s Office and the city councilors.
Schlosser said the vaccine hesitancy does not mean they should stop their efforts to convince Davaoeños to get themselves vaccinated or boostered.
“Mao gani naga mobile vaccination because we are bringing the vaccination, as well as bringing the education sa ilaha. Balik- balikan nato sila, i-educate nato sila hantud ma-convince nato sila of the importance and benefit of the vaccine (That’s why it’s mobile vaccination because we are bringing the vaccination, as well as bringing the education to them. We will keep going back to them until we convince them of the importance and benefits of the vaccine),” she added.
She also maintained that the fixed vaccination hubs in strategic areas in the city are still open for walk-ins from Mondays to Fridays while the ones in Crocodile Park and People’s Park are open until Saturdays for walk-ins and drive-thru. Meanwhile, the one at Abreeza Ayala Malls is open until Sunday, April 3, for first, second, missed, and booster doses.
