IF Cagayan de Oro City residents are to finally remove their face masks, they should fulfill three conditions of the vaccination criteria set by the national government in 100 days.
“(The local government) should reach 90 percent coverage for first doses among seniors and it should reach 50 percent first booster coverage for the general population. It should also raise the vaccination rate for children aged five to 11 years old,” said Dr. Ina Grace Chiu, officer-in-charge of the City Health Office vaccination operations during yesterday morning’s City Hall press briefing.
Monday’s City Hall press briefing on the city’s Covid-19 response marked the first since Mayor Rolando ‘Klarex’ Uy assumed office two weeks ago. City Health Officer Dr. Rachel Dilla, who also co-chairs City Hall’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC), said City Hall’s medical frontliners remain committed and hardworking in keeping the city safe from the Covid-19 pandemic and other medical/health threats.
Thus, Dr. Dilla said the Monday press briefing will cover not only the city’s Covid-19 response but also other medical issues like the dengue season which had claimed 11 lives as of June 15, Dr. Dilla said.
“Our response to the Covid-19 pandemic is predicated (among other factors) on the situation of our people on the ground. Our CHO and the city’s hospital system continue to sustain our efforts (against Covid-19),” she said.
During the briefing, Dr. Chiu said Cagayan de Oro’s first dose coverage for seniors is still above 80 percent or 10 percent less than the required target.
“The Department of Health gave Cagayan de Oro City and other local governments about 100 days to accomplish our vaccination targets. For the first booster dose, the city is still at 25.92 percent of the 50 percent target for the general population,” she said.
By general population, Dr. Chiu said this included children aged 12 years old and above. For children aged five years old to 11 years old, Dr. Chiu said Cagayan de Oro City has so far vaccinated 28.15 percent of the target population.
“So we are still far off from the target…so we’ll focus our efforts on hitting the 50 percent booster dose target for the general population,” Dr. Chiu said.
As the city hit double figures in new Covid-19 cases starting in July, Dr. Chiu said their office is appealing to the city’s senior citizens to receive their vaccines for their protection.
“Based on studies by the World Health Organization, the first two doses are insufficient to provide long-term protection against the virus. So we need to secure our booster shots for the general population,” she said. (Stephen Capillas of City Information Office)