Iloilo City: Over 78,000 Ilonggos have already availed themselves of the free influenza vaccines provided by the City Health Office (CHO), which continues to urge residents to visit their nearest health units before the January 24, 2025 deadline.

According to Philippines News Agency, CHO head Dr. Annabelle Tang announced that the Department of Health allocated 144,000 vaccine doses to Iloilo City. "We started vaccinating as of November 22, 2024, and as of January 13, we were able to vaccinate 78,538 individuals. We covered a lot - 10 schools and several government offices," Dr. Tang shared during a media conference.

The CHO has implemented multiple strategies to maximize vaccine uptake, including setting up fixed vaccination sites, conducting house-to-house immunizations, and deploying a roving team to reach more recipients. "The roving team goes from one store to another to convince people to avail of the service. We also visit big establishments upon request. We cover senior citizens and children 10 years old and above," Dr. Tang added.

With ample vaccine stocks remaining, Mayor Jerry Tre±as expressed openness to assisting other local government units. The city has already provided vaccines to Antique province. "We want to finish this, at least give all whoever needs protection. We are ready to provide. This was given to us last November 22," Mayor Tre±as stated.

CHO data reveals that, apart from district health units, vaccines have also been made available to uniformed personnel, hospitals, other health facilities, schools, and the Iloilo City Action and Resilience Center.