BACOLOD and nine other cities that are currently experiencing surges in coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases were added to the National Capital Region (NCR) Plus Eight areas in the vaccination priority of the national government.

This was announced by Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque Jr. in a press briefing Thursday, June 24, 2021.

Roque, in a statement, said the cities included in the vaccination priority are Bacolod, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro City, Baguio, Zamboanga, Dumaguete, Tuguegarao, General Santos, Naga and Legazpi.

"The basis was the increasing and surging [Covid-19] cases, their being highly urbanized and dense environment, and their contribution to the regional and national economy," the spokesperson said.

Roque added that the current policy to prioritize for vaccination the NCR and the original plus eight provinces, and now including the plus 10 cities, is part of the government’s strategy to contain Covid-19 and achieve population protection.

He explained that "we are not saying that other places are less important, but it is important to start containing where the Covid-19 cases are high in order to achieve the containment for the entire Philippines."

The Office of the Presidential Spokesperson (OPS) said Reverend Father Nicanor Austriaco, lead investigator for the University of Santo Tomas-CoVAX Vaccine Awareness Team, underscored during the briefing the importance of the NCR Plus Eight exit strategy using vaccines.

Austriaco said vaccinating the NCR Plus Eight, and now including the plus 10 cities, will protect other provinces and help contain the disease and help achieve population protection, the OPS said.

As vaccination is also part of the strategy to protect Filipinos from the more transmissible variants of Covid-19, like the Delta variant, the Palace spokesperson emphasized that the government is doing all the necessary actions to prevent the entry of the said variant of concern in the country.

Roque said the government is intensifying the drive on "mag-mask, hugas, iwas" alongside contact tracing.

"We are increasing our healthcare capacity. But, we call on everyone to help and unite because these Delta and Delta plus variants that we are facing are one of a kind," he added.

As of June 23, Bacolod City had 1,957 active Covid-19 cases, forming part of the 12,374 total confirmed cases.

The city logged 10,118 recoveries and 296 deaths.

In terms of vaccination, a total of 45,494 doses of Covid-19 vaccines were administered to Bacolod City residents from March 5 to June 15, 2021.

Of the figure, 24,262 were Sinovac and 21,232 were AstraZeneca vaccines.