THE number of individuals who have registered for Cebu City’s coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccination program has reached more than 400,000.
According to the latest data provided by Management Information and Computer Services (Mics) officer-in-charge Richter Castañares on Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021, 426,133 individuals are currently registered.
This constitutes 61 percent of the 700,000 individuals the City Government needs to vaccinate to achieve herd immunity.
Majority of registered individuals belong to Priority Code A4, or economic workers, totaling 100,086.
The number of registered individuals in other categories has also increased.
Dr. Jeffrey Ibones, City Health Department officer-in-charge, said there are several reasons more people are getting the jab, including the threat of the highly transmissible delta variant of the disease.
The Department of Health (DOH) 7 earlier announced that 32 cases of the delta variant were detected in Cebu. Six were tagged from Cebu City.
President Rodrigo Duterte had also warned that he would only allow vaccinated individuals to go out, he said, adding that most workplaces prefer employees who are vaccinated.
The City has also intensified its campaign on vaccination, he added.
Cebu City has 66,690 individuals who are fully-vaccinated, while 120,768 individuals have received their first dose.
This data does not include those who were inoculated under the Project Balik Buhay vaccination initiative and those who were vaccinated in hospitals.
The City has administered 187,458 doses of Covid-19 vaccines.
However, Ibones said the number of fully-vaccinated individuals is still too small.
Ibones said the City will add six more vaccination centers to the six that are already operating once it has an adequate supply of vaccines.
“Imagine if we will have 12 sites opened, since each site can inoculate 1,000 individuals, then we can vaccinate around 240,000 individuals in a month,” he said.
However, Ibones said the City’s vaccine allocation has improved, which is why vaccine rollout has not been disrupted in the last two weeks.
Cebu City will continue to vaccinate individuals while the city is under modified enhanced community quarantine. Walk-ins are not allowed.
Ibones said this might pose a problem in finding a substitution for individuals who are scheduled to be vaccinated do not show up.
In Mandaue City, 151,757 doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered as of Friday, July 30, based on the data of the PBB.
A total of 103,232 doses were administered as first doses and 48,525 as second doses.
The PBB data also show that Mandaue City has the highest percentage of vaccinated individuals in terms of the target eligible population, which is 34.91 percent for the first dose and 16.41 percent for the second dose.
A total of 302,712 individuals are on the City’s vaccination masterlist.
Ernie Manatad, Mandaue City’s Vaccine Board head, said they’ve already told barangay officials to convince senior citizens to avail themselves of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
He said senior citizens are allowed to walk in and fast lanes are provided for them at vaccination sites.
On Aug. 5, Manatad said they will start to operate the mobile vaccination clinic with two vaccination teams at the socialized housing site in Barangay Paknaan.
The mobile vaccination clinic will cater to senior citizens, persons with comorbidities and indigent residents. (JJL, KFD)