The Pangasinan Provincial Health Office (PHO) is urging the local government units (LGUs) to hasten vaccination rollout by bringing it to far-flung areas of their respective jurisdictions.
“Most of the vaccination sites are concentrated in the ‘poblacion’ (town center) area. We encourage LGUs to organize a team that will go to the barangays since accessibility is one of the key factors in the vaccination rollout,” said PHO chief, Dr. Anna Ma. Teresa de Guzman, during the question hour in the Sangguniang Panlalawigan’s session on Monday.
De Guzman said it is necessary that healthcare workers go the distance to administer the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines to people in far-flung areas considering the senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and pregnant women, among others.
She also cited the importance of translating information in the dialect of the people for them to fully understand the role of the Covid-19 vaccines.
“The information and awareness on the effectiveness and the safety of the vaccine need to be disseminated in their dialect,” she added.
De Guzman said the brand biases of people should also be addressed, admitting that more Pangasinenses prefer Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
She assured those who had been inoculated with Sinovac and other Covid-19 vaccines were safe and got the same immunity needed to fight the severe effects of the virus.
“We encourage everyone to have themselves immunized as we are now catering to 18 years old and above population while the LGUs are now vaccinating all throughout the week,” de Guzman said.
As of October 17, some 857,439 Pangasinenses have been inoculated either with the first dose or second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, or 43.4 percent of the total eligible population of 1.98 million in the province.
Source: Philippines News Agency