Dindin Montesclaros Hayag, DOH 7 health education and promotion officer, said this following the announcement of Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire on Friday, March 25, 2022 that the National Government will conduct a special focus vaccination against Covid-19 in Central Visayas particularly in Cebu.
DOH is set to deploy additional vaccination teams in Cebu for the massive vaccination drive from March 29 to March 31.
Hayag said they will use all possible strategies for the vaccination, adding that house-to-house and mobile vaccination, apart from fixed sites, are highly encouraged.
Vergeire earlier said the deployment of more teams is their way of helping not just Central Visayas but also the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Barmm) to increase their vaccination rates.
“Pupunta po ang ating deployed teams para matulungan ang regions na ito upang tumaas ang pagbabakuna (Our teams will go to these regions to help them increase their vaccination rate),” Vergeire said in a Malacañang press briefing.
In Cebu Province, about 54 percent have been fully vaccinated from its total eligible vaccinees as of March 24.
In Metro Cebu, 68.93 percent of its eligible population had been fully vaccinated while North Cebu and South Cebu have 38.80 and 34.60 percent, respectively.
Low performing LGUs
Data from the DOH 7 showed the top 10 low performing LGUS in North and South Cebu.
In North Cebu, Tabogon town had the lowest vaccination rate with 24.68 percent; Tuburan with 25.89 percent; San Fernando with 28.74 percent; Tabuelan with 29.76 percent; Asturias with 34.69 percent; Catmon with 34.84 percent; San Remegio with 35.58 percent; Danao City with 37.35 percent; Poro with 38.55 percent; Daanbantayan with 39.07 percent; and Balamban with 39.92 percent.
In South Cebu, Aloguinsan was also the lowest vaccination rate with 22.65 from its total eligible population; Alegria with 25.84 percent; Dumanjug with 28.17 percent; Dalaguete with 29.36 percent; Carcar City with 30.59 percent; Pinamungajan with 31.69 percent; Malbuyoc with 33.03 percent; Toledo City with 33.33 percent; Barili with 34.01 percent; Samboan with 34.77 percent; and Ginatilan with 35.26 percent.
Among the nine LGUs in Metro Cebu, only Cebu City has so far been de-escalated from Alert Level 2 to Alert Level 1 status.
National tally
In his report during President Rodrigo Duterte’s Talk to the People Address on Monday evening, National Task Force Against Covid-19 Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said of the 6,572,248 target population in Central Visayas, only 62.26 percent or 4,091,921 have been fully vaccinated, while only 518,207 or 7.88 percent received booster doses.
Based on the tally of the Philippine Statistics Authority, Central Visayas’ total population is at 8,147,078.
In Barmm, 3,516,278 individuals are targeted to receive Covid-19 jabs but only 926,540 or 26.35 percent are currently fully vaccinated, while 72.737 or 2.07 percent received booster shots.
Barmm has a total of 4,358,837 people.
Vergeire urged the public and local government units in the two regions to participate in the vaccination drive.
She noted the importance of Covid-19 vaccination, not only in the primary series but also of the booster doses to strengthen a person’s protection against the virus.
She reiterated that studies found that the immunity against the virus wanes over time, especially due to the variants.
As of March 24, a total of 65,528,820 individuals in the country have been fully vaccinated, while 70,714,774 have received their first dose.
A total of 11,743,345 doses of booster shots have also been administered.
For adolescents aged 12 to 17, 9,783,000 received the first dose, while 8,899,582 were fully vaccinated.
For the vaccination of children aged five to 11, a total of 736,143 have been fully inoculated, while 1,778,806 have received their first jab. (TPM / SunStar Philippines)