Dr. Michelle Schlosser, the spokesperson of the city’s COVID-19 Task Force in an interview with the City Information Office (CIO) said that Dabawenyos want to get a booster dose will receive one kilo of rice in any of the city's operational vaccination hubs that are catering to boosters.
She said the initiative started on April 26, however, the free rice is only available until the supply lasts.
Schlosser admitted that the booster vaccination drive in the city has been very slow for quite some time.
As of May 6, at least 252,267 or 19.24 percent of the 1,311,008 fully immunized individuals in the city have received their first booster jabs.
From the 249,360 who received their first boosters as of April 29, only 2,907 were added to that number after one week.
Of the 252,267 who got their first booster shot, at least 734 or 0.29 percent received their second booster dose as of May 6.
Apart from the immunocompromised individuals who can avail of the second booster dose, the city is also catering to all A1, A2, and A3 priority groups.
Medical frontliners (A1), senior citizens (A2), and adults with comorbidities (A3) can start getting their second booster shots at least three months after receiving the first booster dose.
Schlosser said fast lanes have been set up for business processing outsource (BPO) workers at the People's Park and for public utility drivers at the Crocodile Park.
She said these two parks are operational from Mondays to Saturdays, catering to 12 years old and above vaccinees needing primary and booster doses.
Schlosser, meanwhile, also called on parents and guardians to have their children aged five to 11 years old to get vaccinated as soon as possible since face-to-face classes have started in some schools and a lot of young students remain unvaccinated.
The city targets 242,209 vaccinees in the five to 11 age group, but only 16,846 or 6.96 percent received their first doses while 13,692 or 5.65 percent have receive their second jabs.
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