HINIGARAN town Mayor Jose Nadie Arceo made an appeal Friday, November 12, 2021, to his constituents to get vaccinated against coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
Arceo's appeal came after the data released by the Provincial Health Office (PHO) showed that the town is currently the lowest-performing local government unit (LGU) in terms of vaccination.
Arceo said the residents should start believing in the science of vaccination instead of believing in rumors.
He said only 20 percent or 9,661 of the town's 89,387 residents eligible for vaccination have been inoculated since November 7, while some 5,678 individuals or roughly nine percent are fully vaccinated.
Arceo said another factor that may have contributed to the low vaccination turnout is the remote location of some barangays in the town on top of the misinformation that is being spread on social media about the vaccines.
At present, the locality is finalizing its plans for the launch of its own pediatric vaccination for 12- to 17-year-olds.
La Carlota City was still the top-performing locality in terms of vaccination against Covid-19 in Negros Occidental with at least 50 percent of the city's target population already receiving at least one dose of the vaccine.