PAMPANGA Governor Dennis Pineda has ordered the Provincial Health Office (PHO) to vaccinate more eligible residents against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) to be able to help reduce further the number of infections in the province.
Pineda said on Monday, October 11, that the province has seen a steady reduction in Covid-19 cases as the number of vaccinated individuals has reached 30 percent.
A total of 612,137 doses or 30 percent of target groups in 19 towns have been vaccinated as of October 11, with at least 281,586 people completing two shots and 330,551 others taking the first shot, PHO chief Dr. Zenon Ponce said in a report to the governor on Monday.
Ponce said the data do not include those from the cities of San Fernando, Angeles and Mabalacat.
“The vaccination in Pampanga has been orderly and within schedules. The vaccines are properly stored and secured in our cold chain storage. We immediately roll out the vaccines as soon as these are delivered because I know that vaccines are life-savers,” the governor said.
The PHO counted less than 200 cases daily in the first two weeks of October from a little over 400 cases daily in the August-September period, Ponce said.
“Dumarami na kasi sa atin ang bakunado kaya nakikita natin itong downtrend sa probinsya. Marami na rin ang well-informed at hindi na masyado lumalabas or kung lalabas man ay sumusunod sila sa mga health protocols upang maka-iwas sa infection,” he said.
The vaccines administered by the PHO together with the municipal health offices and rural health units of different local government units to frontliners, senior citizens, people with co-morbidities and essential workers were donated by the national government or purchased by the provincial government, he said.
"Inaasahan natin na magtuloy-tuloy na ito hanggang December, and hopefully by then we will achieve herd immunity of 70 percent of Pampanga residents fully vaccinated," he said.
As of October 11, Pampanga has 91 new cases of Covid-19 infections, 3,701 active cases, 40,397 recoveries and 2,413 deaths.