SIX months since Davao City rolled out its Covid-19 vaccination program, more than 300,000 Dabawenyos are already fully vaccinated, according to the August 17, 2021 data of the Davao City Vaccination Cluster.
According to the Vaccination Cluster, a total of 303,282 vaccinees were already administered with the Covid-19 vaccine.
Based on the breakdown, 43.370 are from the Priority Group A1 (health care workers), 80,125 are A2 (senior citizens), 111,646 are A3 (persons with comorbidities), 61,290 are A4 (essential workers), and 6,821 A5 (indigent population, including residents belonging to the indigenous peoples (IP) communities).
Total persons vaccinated is 15 percent of the targeted 1.2 million vaccinees to achieve herd immunity.
Meanwhile, a total of 465,391 doses were already administered for the first dose.
Out of the total, 52,730 were administerd to the A1 sector, 83,762 for A2, 138,392 for A3, 174,355 for A4, and 16,152 for A5.
The Davao City Government started inoculating the Covid-19 vaccines early March this year, nearly a year since the city recorded its first Covid-19 cases.
Among the vaccines that were allocated by the national government to the city are Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson Janssen, Gamaleya Sputnik V, and Moderna.
Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio recently said in a radio interview that the City will now be expanding its targeted daily vaccination from 10,000 to 15,000 vaccinees in order to achieve herd immunity before the end of the year.
Aside from opening more vaccination hubs, the City recently tapped the City Council through its councilors to set up their own mobile vaccination team. The mayor said the councilors will be tapping the help of the barangays, especially in far-flung areas, in identifying A2 and A3 individuals who have not yet registered for the vaccination program.
Duterte-Carpio also reminded those who received their first dose to religiously get their second dose on the prescribed date.
The mayor revealed that one of the challenges that the city is facing right now in its vaccination drive is the missed second doses as some recipients failed to return for their second dose for various reasons.
“Ginapakusgan nato ang kampanya sa second dose sa mga tao. Ang bakuna two doses dili siya one. Ang full protection sa vaccination is dapat kinahanglan makuha ang second dose. Naka-reserve nana daan para sa inyuha so it is very important nga fully vaccinated,” Duterte-Carpio said in an interview on Monday, August 16.
(We are strengthening our campaign for the second dose. The vaccine requires two doses. To get full protection, you need to get two doses of the vaccine. The second dose vaccines are already reserved for those that have taken their first dose.)
Under the resolution released by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases, a person is considered fully vaccinated for Covid-19 if it has been more than or equal to two weeks after having received the second dose in a two-dose series, or more than or equal to two weeks after having received a single-dose vaccine.
Also, the vaccines administered to the individual should be included on the Emergency Use Authorization List or Compassionate Special Permit issued by the Philippine Food and Drug Administration; or Emergency Use Listing of the World Health Organization.
Experts said completing the required dose by the manufacturer will help reach the vaccine’s maximum potential. Thus, the city mayor urged Dabawenyos who received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine to make an appointment and get fully vaccinated.