Provincial Health Officer Dr. Ernel Tumimbang said the devastation of Typhoon Odette slowed down the vaccination drive.
Currently, Negros Occidental already reached at least 55 percent of their target residents to be inoculated against Covid-19.
“We could have reached nearly the 70 percent mark, which is the level of herd immunity, at the end of this month,” Tumimbang said.
He said despite the effects of the calamity, the vaccination drive continues even in hard-hit areas.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, who arrived in the province on Monday, December 20, ordered the resumption of the vaccination drive.
Duque went to Kabankalan City, one of the hardest hit by the typhoon, with President Rodrigo Duterte.
The southern Negros Occidental areas that were badly-hit by the typhoon contributed a lot in the vaccination program, Tumimbang said.
He said Covid-19 vaccines are important especially when social distancing was sacrificed at the evacuation centers during disasters such as typhoons.
Tumimbang also said the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccines are now available in all localities throughout the province.
