The Department of Health in the Cordillera Administrative Region (DOH-CAR) has attained population protection against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) with over 70 percent of residents eligible for inoculation already fully vaccinated.
Dr. Amelita Pangilinan, assistant regional director and spokesperson of DOH-CAR, said in a phone interview on Thursday that 73.60 percent of their 1,275,904 target have received the full dose of the vaccine since the start of the regional inoculation rollout on March 5.
She said that based on the latest consolidated report from the different local government units, 83.63 percent of the eligible population have also received at least one dose and are waiting for the schedule of their second dose.
“Tuloy-tuloy pa rin tayo sa paghahanap ng mga kababayan natin na hindi pa nabakunahan (we continue to locate the residents who have not yet received the vaccine) so that we can give them protection against the virus,” the doctor said.
She added that aside from health workers and officials of the DOH and the local government units, the other agencies in government also helped out, especially in bringing the vaccines to the far-flung, inaccessible residents.
“We have to bring the vaccine to them no matter how far they are. The air assets of the military have become very helpful to attain this goal,” she said.
As of December 28, there were 943,226 vaccinated with their first dose; 989,127 fully vaccinated, and 42,415 given their booster jab in the region, Pangilinan said.
Of the six provinces and two cities in the region, Baguio has logged the most vaccinated residents at 107.15 percent of the target 281,000 eligible population. The city overshot its target after it opened its vaccination service to Benguet residents, considering that five of its 13 municipalities are adjacent to the city.
Abra province logged a 95.73 percent vaccination rate while Apayao has 75.67 percent.
Kalinga and Mountain Province are nearing population protection at 66.5 and 66.24 percent, respectively while Benguet, which has the biggest target at over 300,000 is at 52 percent, and Ifugao with 49.4 percent.
