BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Negros Occidental is still inching towards achieving herd immunity against COVID-19, compared to neighboring island provinces, as the number of fully vaccinated individuals reached 1,377,422 or 65.64 percent, as of July 9, Provincial Inter Agency Task Force action officer Rayfrando Diaz yesterday said, citing records of the Provincial Health Office.
Negros Occidental needs to vaccinate 2,098,421 of its 2.6 million population to attain herd immunity, which is equivalent to 80 percent of its entire population.
Diaz said that 111,284 more Negrenses are scheduled to be administered with the COVID-19 vaccine second dose.
PHO records further show that 1,488,706 already got their first doses.
Diaz said that the provincial government of Negros Occidental is working hard with the PHO, City and Municipal Health Offices to hit the target for every local government unit by providing incentives to the vaccinators and vaccinees, among others.
Negros Occidental remains under Alert Level 2 due to low vaccination rate among senior citizens, who are at risk of severe illness or death due to COVID-19.
Even the vaccination of minors with ages 5 to 11 remains slow, except those in cities, amid the proposed start of face-to-face regular classes being eyed in November this year, Diaz said
They will really face a lot of danger of being infected by the virus, he added. Even Iloilo City, which has reached its target of achieving herd immunity against COVID-19, the number of cases is still growing, Diaz noted.
But Negros Occidental, which has yet to achieve herd immunity status, is fortunate because COVID-19 patients admitted in hospitals are suffering only mild cases and the mortality rate is almost zero.
The Provincial Incident Management Team reported that Negros Occidental has 37 COVID-19 active cases as of July 11.*