Previous Story
FOR VACCINATED PASSENGERS
‘No change in protocols’
|
Posted on Feb 02 2021
There won’t be any changes in travel-related protocols for passengers who have been vaccinated and are arriving in the CNMI, according to Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. chief executive officer Esther Muña.
Speaking at the first Health and Welfare Committee meeting last Friday at the House of Representatives’ chamber on Capital Hill, Muña said they have to be careful because there’s a concern about the new COVID-19 variant.
“You may have been vaccinated and it protects you definitely, but it doesn’t protect the community, so we need to make sure that our protocols are at this time stay the same,” said Muña.
As of Jan. 31, 6,487 residents on Saipan have gotten their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. According to Muña, Phase 1B is set to reopen this coming weekend.
Muña added that preregistration is critical in the vaccination process because there are many steps that take place before someone gets inoculated with either the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine or the Moderna vaccine.
Muña assured the committee that since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the hospital was the first to shift its operations even when they weren’t adequately funded. She told the committee that, with its help, she is confident that the hospital will improve more.
Committee chair Rep. Tina Sablan (D-Saipan) said at the meeting that the committee has a role to play to ensure that funds are monitored closely and that benefits reach those who need them.
“This committee plays an important role in working with CHCC, the administration and the medical referral office as well as other policy experts to conduct a long-overdue review of this program and identify areas where services could be improved or offered on island or through telemedicine, and we’re seeing it,” said Sablan.
Sablan acknowledges that the CNMI has the highest rates of chronic disease and obesity in the nation, and the cost of a population in poor health simply cannot be underestimated. She added that the committee will support increased investments for health care, and especially for preventive care through moderate increases in alcohol and tobacco taxes, and reasonable tax on sugar-sweetened beverages.
