Imagine nothing

By BenCyrus G. Ellorin

CAGAYAN de Oro City 2nd district congressman making a call or visiting City Hall to coordinate Covid 19 response initiatives should be a ‘wow’ moment. Politicians setting aside differences to make a united front against Covid-19 is so ahhh!

Imagine that.

Cagayan de Oro’s Covid-19 situation was in the national limelight after the surge of cases in April and May. This threw the city into a modified enhanced community quarantine status. In the last two weeks, however, new cases and transmission rate started to dip, increasing to safer level the hospital critical care utilization rate of the city’s and Northern Mindanao’s health system.

Overall, however, among the highly urbanized cities, Cagayan de Oro still has one of the lowest cumulative cases without crippling lockdowns. Thanks to the teamwork among the local government, the Dept. of Health, and the Northern Mindanao Medical Center.

Vaccination has given us a better fighting platform. We hope the supply of Covid 19 vaccines starts to flow, instead of just trickles.

As early as May, Mayor Moreno’s partner, heir apparent in Misamis Oriental, Ariel “Ayi” Hernandez has been working silently in Manila, coordinating with the vaccine czar, retired Gen. Carlity Galvez for the city to have a fair share of the vax. And it did bear fruits. From daily jabs of a thousand, it grew to 1,500. Now it stands at around 3,000. In fact, 5,000 jabs a day is doable, only if there is a stable and reliable flow of the vax from the national government. Our vaccination utilization rate is around 99%, one of the highest nationwide. Thanks, Ayi, the very reliable kaabag, primus-inter-pares of Mayor Oca Moreno.

Then came Congressman Rufus Rodriguez, with all his eloquence in the halls of congress thundering lower mortals representing the DOH in a hearing, for the short of supply vaccines in his beloved city ― demanding higher shares for the city. Thank you too, congressman.

He then set his sights on Vice President Leni Robredo who rolled out Bakuna Express with Manila Mayor Isko Moreno for economic frontliners like drivers of public utility vehicles.

The Office of the Vice President (OVP) responded in no time when called out – ‘why only in Manila’ ― by our good congressman. In response, the OVP started working on expanding the reach of its Bakuna Express in the Visayas and Mindanao.

We hope this much-needed help will come. But then again, it would redound to steady and reliable supplies of vaccines. I learned, the OVP has no separate vaccine allocation from the IAFT and DOH. What it has are mobile vaccine facilities and a team who can deliver the jabs, plus some incentives coming from the private sector.

The OVP’s Bakuna Express can only work, like in Manila, if the local government allocates some of its vax to fill in some gaps. I presume, the OVP has already made representations with the health cluster of City Hall. Would City Hall give the program allocation? That, I think is not the question.

Are their gaps that need to filled in given the supply situation? That is the question.

Sometimes, all sound and fury ― to borrow Shakespeare in Macbeth ― signify nothing. Really nothing.