Negros Occidental is lagging behind in terms of vaccination program against coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in Western Visayas.
With this, the provincial government is trying to catch up in terms of vaccination output by eyeing to inoculate 100,000 residents every week.
In fact, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said they have deployed five vaccination teams in the province to help local government units especially those with lacking personnel and improve their vaccination rates.
In a meeting last week with Lacson, Department of Health (DOH) in Western Visayas Regional Director Dr. Adriano Suba-an said they are concerned about the slow roll-out of Negros Occidental’s vaccination activities.
Lacson, however, stressed that the province is second in terms of number of persons vaccinated in Western Visayas.
He pointed out that Negros Occidental has the highest number of eligible residents to be vaccinated in the region at 1,825,370.
“We will bring the vaccination program to the barangay level,” Lacson added.
The governor said that there is a need for barangay captains to demand for vaccination in their areas.
The provincial government is targeting to reach herd immunity against Covid-19 by February next year.
“We are studying ways to give incentives to encourage the barangay officials to perform well in the vaccination activities,'' Lacson said.
Provincial Health Office record shows that as of November 11, 2021, 20.76 percent of the target population are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 while 26.52 percent of target have received their first dose
As of November 12, Negros Occidental has 1,223 active Covid-19 and 22 new deaths, the Provincial Incident Management Team reported.*