DAVAO City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio renewed her call for Dabawenyos to get vaccinated against Covid-19 after the majority of the newly recorded cases in the city are reported to be unvaccinated.
Duterte-Carpio bared in a radio interview on Monday, September 13, 2021, that the city recorded a total of 3,304 new cases from September 5 to 11. Out of the total, 91.13 percent were unvaccinated while 8.86 or 293 individuals were vaccinated.
Of the 293 vaccinated individuals who contracted the virus, she said 148 received Sinovac shots; 72 had AstraZeneca; 62 got Pfizer, six with Moderna; four were jabbed with Johnson & Johnson; one had Sputnik.
"Kining data paunsa nato pag-relate sa atoang regular daily life? Makita nato numbers ni sya nga gikuha nato sa positive cases nato sa Covid-19. Dunay dako nga diperensya kung vaccinated ka o unvaccinated ka. This should guide us nga mag-decide magpabakuna na (How can we relate this data to our daily lives? We see the numbers of our Covid-19 positive cases. There is a big difference if you are vaccinated or unvaccinated. This should guide us to decide to get inoculated)," the mayor said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.
Duterte-Carpio explained that the city rolled out more Sinovac vaccines, resulting in a larger number of individuals jabbed with the China-made vaccine brand, thus logging more Covid-19 cases than the rest of the vaccines.
However, she said all of them only manifested mild symptoms or are asymptomatic cases.
Meanwhile, from September 5 to 11, Davao City logged 59 deaths. Of this number, 55 or 93.22 percent were unvaccinated while four or 6.77 were vaccinated.
Of the four vaccinated deaths, two got the Sinovac vaccine while the other two received Pfizer. Some vaccinated individuals who either became severe or critical Covid-19 cases and eventually die usually had not yet received their second doses.
The mayor reminded the public not to be hesitant in getting the vaccine, and to do away from vaccine preferences.
"Dili na ta kinahanglan mupili og bakuna because there's that chance sa tanang klase sa bakuna nga mag-positive gihapon ka sa Covid-19. Ang importante lang dapat masabtan sa tanan dili ta severe or critical case nga kinahanglan ta musulod dinha sa ospital og magpakitabang sa atong mga doctors og mga healthcare workers nga overwhelmed na, gikapoy na sila, wala na silay pahulay, nangahadlok na sila. And in fact, very recently, namatyan sila diha sa SPMC og health care worker (We don't need to choose a vaccine brand because there's that chance that all kinds of vaccines will still not prevent you from getting infected with Covid-19. What's important is for everybody to understand that we won't become a severe or critical case that would need to be hospitalized and get help from our doctors and health care workers who are already overwhelmed, tired, without rest, and scared. Just recently, an SPMC health care worker died)."
The mayor reiterated that the vaccines won’t guarantee that there will be no Covid-19 infection, but she said this would spare them from hospitalization.
"Magpabakuna ba ko bisag there is a chance nga mag positive ko? Yes! Kay makatabang nga dili ka maging severe or critical case (Will I still get vaccinated even if there is a chance that I'll be infected with Covid-19? Yes! Because it would help you not to become a severe or critical case)," she said.
Duterte-Carpio also said the current surge is overwhelming the city's hospitals and temporary treatment and monitoring facilities (TTMF), affecting the city's Covid-19 response.
She added that hospital beds, oxygen tanks, doctors, and nurses can no longer take more patients.
The mayor also cautioned vaccinated individuals not to be complacent in attending social gatherings since 90 percent of the city's population are not yet vaccinated.
As of September 12, Davao City has 8,700 active cases of the total 43,039 Covid-19 cases since March 2020 with 33,027 total recoveries and 1,312 deaths. (RGL)