This was stressed by Provincial Administrator lawyer Rayfrando Diaz II yesterday, July 21, saying that they cannot violate their [unvaccinated individuals] physical and individual integrity.
Diaz said they can only convince those who continue to refuse to be vaccinated.
But their refusal would mean that the alert level status in their areas will not change and their social and economic mobility will be limited, he said.
Several local government units (LGUs) in Negros Occidental are barring unvaccinated individuals or those who have no booster shots against coronavirus disease (Covid-19) from entering government premises.
Diaz said that it can be justified as a form of protecting the general public’s health because by being unvaccinated, you put other people’s health at risk.
“It’s the balance between herd immunity and individual rights but we respect the choice of every individual,” he said.
As of July 16, two towns in Negros Occidental are still short of their vaccination target against Covid-19 and need to catch up with the rest of the LGUs.
Capitol records showed that Toboso town was only able to vaccinate 44.06 percent of their populace eligible for inoculation while Calatrava has 49.43 percent.
The best performing localities, on the other hand, included the city of La Carlota with 94.68 percent; Pulupandan – 89.07; Sagay City – 83.93 percent; E.B. Magalona town – 81.62 percent; and Pontevedra town – 80.87 percent.
Meanwhile, Diaz explained that among the reasons why there was a need to reshuffle the heads in some provincial government-run hospitals are poor performance or others have been overstaying.
“Some have complaints from patients and watchers and local chief executives because of poor performance due to too much familiarity,” he said.
He said that the positions of these hospital heads and nurses are not station specific as they are part of the hospital operation.
They will assume their new post by August 1, 2022 and will be required to update physical logistics, human resources and other supplies.*