SEMICONDUCTOR giant Texas Instruments Philippines Inc. (TIPI) opened up a vaccination site for Baguio residents in a move to speed up the city’s vaccination coverage.
The move is an extension of TIPI’s initial moves from as early as July last year to provide COVID-19 vaccinations for residents of Barangay Loakan, where its facilities are located.
TIPI spokesperson Alessandra Paguio said that by last year some 5,000 employees, their dependents, and residents in the surrounding Baguio City Economic Zone (BCEZ) were vaccinated by the company.
Assistant City Health Services Officer Dr. Celia Brillantes said that the city is using it as one of its biggest potential sites for public vaccination, with the allotted area inside the company gymnasium able to accommodate individuals from Loakan and Atok Trail since the site was launched on Wednesday.
Dr. Amelita Pangilinan, Department of Health Cordillera (DOH-CAR) spokesperson and assistant director, said that the department has tapped medical clinics in workplaces such as TIPI to administer vaccines for remote communities in the city.
Paguio meanwhile said that the COVID-19 situation in TIPI’s workplace has tended to reflect the situation outside, saying that surges in the city also accompanied surges in the company’s worker and staff population, with at least 400 infections recorded among workers and contractors since 2020.
TIPI was allowed to continue operations early during the pandemic as it produces chips for vital medical equipment, and has operated by enforcing strict health protocols, housing essential workforce in local hotels with company ferrying services, and work from home arrangements until it returned to 100 percent capacity in the last quarter of 2020.
Only three percent of the TIPI workforce remain unvaccinated and are subjected to regular COVID-19 testing, Paguio said.
