The city government has continued to move close to its target in the continuing mass vaccination against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), with some 326,012 vaccines already administered here.
A report from the City Health Office (CHO) on Monday showed that some 145,009 residents were already vaccinated as of Nov. 12, while 181,003 are waiting for their second dose.
The number of vaccinated individuals in the city’s 26 villages so far comprise 70.91 percent of the local government’s 459,732 target to achieve population protection.
City Mayor Ronnel Rivera lauded the support of the private sector in the expanded vaccination activities and in “helping us reach more than 50 percent in our number of residents vaccinated”.
“Because of your support and our combined efforts, we can see the immediate effects in terms of lower active cases and hospital occupancy rates for Covid-19 patients. This is the reason why we can slowly open up our economy,” he said in a statement.
The CHO report cited that the city’s vaccination coverage significantly increased in the past several weeks due to the high acceptance rate of vaccines among local workers or those under the A4 priority group.
It said a total of 71,724 essential workers in the city are already fully vaccinated while 101,931 are waiting for their second dose.
The number of vaccinated individuals among the “rest of the adult population” or those 18 years old and above has also continued to increase since inoculation opened last month, with 9,156 listed to have received their first dose and 1,737 receiving the second dose.
For the pediatric population or minors aged 12 to 17 years old, a total of 614 were vaccinated among those with comorbidities and 1,259 for the rest of the age group.
Dr. Ryan Aplicador, deputy incident commander of the City Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases (CIATF), said they expect more minors to get vaccinated in the coming days.
He said those with comorbidities are being accommodated at the local government-run Dr. Jorge P. Royeca Hospital (DJPRH), which is one of the designated pilot sites in the region.
The recipients undergo proper pre-vaccination assessment and are required to present clearance from doctors before they receive their first dose of either Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, he said.
Aplicador, the chief of the DJPRH, said the eligible individuals need to register first with the city’s online vaccination portal to ensure that they will be accommodated.
Rivera and the CIATF have cited the increasing vaccination coverage as among the factors that helped lower the daily new Covid-19 cases in the city since last month.
The local government lifted the remaining movement restrictions and control measures last week as the city sustained its Covid-19 low-risk status.
As of 6 p.m. Sunday, the active cases in the city further dropped to 155 after recording only nine new infections and four recoveries.
The confirmed Covid-19 cases in the city since March last year have reached a total of 14,126, with 549 related deaths and 13,422 recoveries.
Source: Philippines News Agency