CALOOCAN CITY, Jan. 28 (PIA) -- National Policy Against COVID-19 chief implementer and Vaccine Czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. on Wednesday lauded the Makati City Government for its "very systematic" preparation for the rollout of the national vaccination program.

"Makati is very systematic and it has already established some vaccination centers, it has 32 of them," Galvez said during the visit of the COVID-19 Coordinated Operations to Defeat Epidemic or CODE Team in the city.

Among the systems put up by the local government in support of the city's vaccination plan include: its dedicated 24/7 teams composed of the Makati Rescue, Ospital ng Makati (OsMak) personnel, and incident command post staff members; emergency hotines 168 and proprietary Makatizen App; Makati COVID-19 hotlines (02) 8870-1082 to 84 and (02) 8870-1447 to 48; and OsMak express lanes for post vaccination patients.

Galvez said the National Task Force (NTF) and the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) will visit Makati City again in order to inspect the actual vaccination program in the areas.

He also reminded the public that as the country waits for the vaccines, it is still very important to be always mindful of the observance of health protocols.

For her part, Mayor Abby Binay urged her constituents to trust the national government's efforts to come out with the best COVID-19 vaccination program.

"It will always be based on science, we need to trust our national government that they have the best intentions for us because if we will not trust them, this pandemic will never end," Binay said as she welcomed the CODE team led by the officials of the NTF and the IATF-EID.

Binay said the biggest challenge in planning the rollout of the vaccination program is how to convince the people to get vaccinated.

"Getting the vaccine is an informed choice, so get the right information, ask the right questions and ask the right people," she said.

A Pulse Asia survey conducted from Nov. 23 to Dec. 2 last year found that 47 percent of Filipinos do not want to get vaccinated. Only 32 percent expressed willingness to receive the vaccine while the remaining 21 percent were still undecided.

Binay said the city government of Makati targets to inoculate 500,000 of its residents by the third quarter of this year.

She said around 30,000 of the city's medical front-liners and other healthcare workers will be initially vaccinated by February.

Binay said the city government also targets to inoculate non-residents but workers in Makati.

The city government has also allocated funds to hire more vaccinators, she added. (PIA NCR)