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Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Friday oversee the second phase of the vaccination rollout for thousands of essential workers and economic frontliners in Davao City.

The vaccination rollout is expected to vaccinate over 25,000 Davaoeños of the phase two in the ongoing “Bakuna by the Sea” vaccination site inspection, a joint undertaking of the local government of Davao and the family-owned and operated Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao by the Gatchalian family.

An initial 14,000 individuals belonging to the tourism industry and allied services were vaccinated in the first phase of the program last August.

The high turnout of those who sought to be vaccinated has prompted the partnership undertaking of Gatchalian and Duterte-Carpio to hold another round of vaccination to further expedite the government’s vaccination program in preparation for the gradual resumption of economic activities in Davao once the number of COVID-19 cases starts to slow down.

“Patuloy tayong umaasa na bababa ang bilang ng mga kaso ng nagkakasakit ng COVID-19 kung mas dadami ang mga nabakunahan. Sa pag-aaral ng mga eksperto, lumalabas na mild at hindi malala ang mga kaso ng mga bakunadong dinapuan ng COVID-19,” Gatchalian said.

Gatchalian has been pushing for the acceleration of the gradual and safe reopening of the economy. In expediting the vaccination program, the senator said that the government would be able to recoup lost jobs and revenues especially if quarantine restrictions will further ease up. Gatchalian has earlier called on economic managers to devise means to help in the upskilling and reskilling of workers on new technologies.

“If we want to go back to business and have at least a semblance of normalcy in our daily lives, we need to vaccinate the people. If we want to achieve the population protection target by the end of the year, we need to do our share to help the government hasten the process. Bayanihan is the key. We cannot just sit idly and watch the cases increase day after day,” Gatchalian said.

The senator also said that aside from offering Waterfront Hotels as vaccination facilities, Waterfront and the Gatchalian family shoulder the salaries and professional fees of doctors, nurses, and other staff working in the frontlines who were hired to augment the vital screening, vaccination, and monitoring process.