Muntinlupa holds meeting with religious sector on vaccination

In a bid to generate demand for vaccination services and increase vaccination uptake among residents, the local government of Muntinlupa coordinates with the religious sector and other community groups in a COVID-19 Vaccine Virtual Town Hall Meeting.

At least 140 participants from religious groups, community organizations, and Sangguniang Kabataan attended the 2nd Muntinlupa’s COVID-19 Vaccine Town Hall Meetings in partnership with the Department of Health last February 18.

During the virtual meeting, Department of Health–Metro Manila Center for Health Development District Manager Officer Dr. Jose Mari Castro discussed COVID-19 management and underscored the importance of vaccines in protecting individuals and communities amid the pandemic.

Muntinlupa City Health Office chief Dra. Teresa Tuliao implored to religious group leaders to help promote the vaccination services of the government and encourage their congregation to get vaccinated.

Recently, DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya praised the city’s social mobilization strategies with the religious sector in promoting COVID-19 vaccination during mass celebrations as part of local demand generation efforts. He hoped that the best practice in Muntinlupa will be replicated by other local government units in the country.

Muntinlupa Public Information Officer Tez Navarro said the initiative is part of the local government’s campaign to enable, inform, motivate, and empower high priority groups to access the vaccination service through the City Health Office, Community Affairs Development Office, and Management Information System Office.

Navarro hoped that the communication strategy of inviting healthcare professionals to explain information on the vaccine will help improve the immunization uptake in Muntinlupa.

“We will conduct a series of dialogue with individuals and communities to help them understand the value of vaccines so more Muntinlupeños will be convinced to be inoculated,” Navarro said.

Former Muntinlupa Mayor Ignacio Bunye has expressed his support to the program and vowed to assist the city’s education program for COVID-19 demand generation.

On February 10, the local government launched the information campaign and was attended by 120 participants from homeowners associations and urban poor groups. The pilot town hall meeting was organized in partnership with the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine and Food and Drug Administration.

Muntinlupa PIO continuously conducts a series of dialogue with individuals and communities to improve health literacy and help the public understand information on COVID-19 vaccines.

As of February 16, the city’s COVID-19 vaccine survey showed that out of the 17,561 respondents from Muntinlupa’s nine barangays, 69% or 14,789 individuals said they are willing to get vaccinated, an increase from 63% in the last survey dated February 5. 

While, a total of 6,751 respondents or 31% said they are not willing to take the vaccine. The most common reasons for the refusal to take the vaccine include fear of side effects, doubts with the efficiency rate of the vaccine, and fee of vaccination.

Muntinlupa City has 49 active cases, 5,516 confirmed cases with 5,295 recoveries, 172 reported deaths, 51 suspect cases, and 328 probable cases as of February 18.