The continuous increase in the number of people who want to get vaccinated at the FABayanihan’s 1Bataan FABakuna Center (FABakuna Center) is good news to the Freeport Area of ​​Bataan (FAB). More than 10,000 workers have received the complete vaccine against COVID-19 while more than 6,000 are waiting for the second dose in the said Freeport.

In over two months of the FABakuna Center operation, the Authority of the Freeport Area of ​​Bataan (AFAB) actively conducted various campaigns to educate the Freeport community on the importance of the vaccine and to encourage more workers on getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

Relatedly, AFAB submitted its recommendations to the local government of Mariveles, which in turn was approved by the latter. At the end of the talks, the allowed 50% manpower in FAB companies has been increased up to 100% in conjunction with the implementation of staggered working hours and shifting schedules and the number of vaccinated workers per company.

In this regard, the Authority also launched the COVID Safety-Assured FAB Enterprise (SAFE) Shield to continue encouraging companies to improve its response to the challenges posed by COVID-19. The AFAB will issue the COVID SAFE Shield to companies that will regularly conduct free monthly testing for workers and have at least 90% fully vaccinated workers at all times. Also, qualified companies may be allowed to continue their operations even during declaration of ECQ or MECQ.

Around the same time the COVID SAFE Shield was launched, mascots FABlo and FABebe were launched to make the vaccination campaign more inviting. Using the comic strip and infographics, the Agency hopes to reach a wider audience and share a broader knowledge of the protection that vaccination against COVID-19 can provide.

Meanwhile, the AFAB received appreciations and good feedback for conducting the free FAB SPEAKS: Bakuna is a Friend webinar which was virtually attended by no less than 350 individuals on Zoom and Facebook.

Dr. Noel Bernardo, AFAB Public Health Consultant Noel Bernardo shared in the free webinar the facts about the said vaccine and other relevant information on topics related to COVID-19.

“Alam naman po natin na ang pagbabakuna ang pinakaevidence-based at pinakamataas ang effectivity sa pagtapos ng pandemya,”(We know that vaccination is the most evidence-based and has the highest effectiveness in ending a pandemic.) said Dr. Bernardo.