Around 2.7 million residents in the Ilocos Region have been fully inoculated against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) as of Wednesday morning, according to the Department of Health Center for Health Development in Ilocos Region (DOH-CHD -1).
In a phone interview, DOH-CHD-1 Covid-19 focal person, Dr. Rheuel Bobis, said 3.2 million residents have also received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccines.
He said 5.72 million doses of coronavirus vaccines have been administered in the region.
“We are on target as we have reached 50 percent of the total eligible population before the year-end in 2021. But we target to complete 70 percent for population protection in the first quarter this year. We are focused on areas that have a low vaccination rate,” he added.
Meanwhile, Bobis said there is still no confirmed Omicron variant in the region as they continue to send sample specimens for genome sequencing and surveillance.
“We are assessing the readiness of the hospitals. We have already coordinated with the different hospitals to increase or return the Covid-19 dedicated hospital beds, including temporary treatment facilities or isolation units of the local government units. We are anticipating the surge because we have already seen this (trend) last year during the holidays when cases increased,” he said.
As of January 4, there are a total of 173 active cases in the region out of the 94,307 confirmed cases.
Five new recoveries brought the total of recovered patients to 91,910.
Nine more deaths increased the total death toll to 2,224.
Source: Philippines News Agency
