Bacolod City’s mobile vaccination drive is on a roll with 428 market vendors receiving their first dose of anti-COVID vaccine during the program’s maiden run on Friday, August 13.

Dubbed as “Vax-i,”  the campaign is believed to be the first-of-its-kind initiated by a local government unit in the country, said City Administrator Em Legaspi Ang, who is also the concurrent executive director of the Emergency Operations Center and COVID Vaccination Council.

Vax-i, one of the city-owned buses, made its first stop at the Libertad Public Market, where 124 vendors were inoculated.

The Vax-i, with doctors, nurses and other health volunteers on board, also vaccinated 190 vendors at the Central Market, the most number of recipients on Day One, shortly after lunch.

Some 114 vendors also received anti-COVID shots at the Burgos Public Market before the team headed back to the Bacolod Government Center, for an online media briefing.

Mayor Evelio Leonardia pointed out that the Vax-i is not only an innovative approach but also a pioneering initiative to encourage more Bacolodnons to get vaccinated to fast-track efforts at achieving  herd immunity.

This mobile vaccination drive intends to vaccinate all vendors as well as public transport drivers, who cannot leave their workplaces to line up for hours at mass vaccination sites otherwise they will have no income for the day to buy food for their families.

Ang also said that employees in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, among others, are also being eyed as future recipients of the Vax-i program.

As of yesterday, a total of 4,752 BPO employees and market vendors were inoculated with anti-COVID vaccines as the city government steps up its campaign./WDJ