REGISTRATION and identification of those in the priority list for the Covid-19 vaccination is now ongoing throughout Negros Occidental.
Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said that based on their latest meeting with the regional office of the Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday, February 9, they were given until the end of February as deadline for the registration of those who will voluntarily submit themselves to vaccination based on the guidelines of the DOH.
Diaz said vaccine czar Carlito Galvez has already informed the governors about the arrival of about 3.5 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines in March.
They were also informed of the arrival of 117,000 doses of Pfizer vaccines, but Diaz confirmed that they do not expect that the province will be included among the areas that will be given the allocation because of the difficulty in the storage requirements of Pfizer and that Metro areas like Manila, Cebu and Davao were already mentioned to be getting the allocation of the Pfizer vaccines.
Diaz also said that they are banking on the help of former Third District representative and provincial consultant Alfredo Benitez and the Negros congressmen to secure the 70 percent target of the province for vaccination.
The province is asking the National Government for an allocation of three million doses for 1.5 million targeted population for the mass vaccination. This is aside from the 100,000 doses that will be purchased by the province also from AstraZeneca.
Medical frontliners will be given priority for vaccination and senior citizens with comorbidities based on the DOH guidelines, Diaz said.
He also said that they are happy with the preparations of the DOH for the mass vaccination because the agency will take care of the vaccines, including all the consumables like cottons, alcohols and the vials and that the local government units (LGUs) will only collect the used vials and return them to the DOH for responsible disposal.
Diaz said the Provincial Health Office will submit to his office Wednesday, February 10, the detailed list from LGUs under their system the list of registered individuals for vaccination.