AFTER consecutive weeks of low turnout, the Visayas Vaccination Operations Center (VVOC) reported a pickup in the vaccination performance of nine local government units (LGU) in Metro Cebu from Nov. 8 to 14, 2021.
The VVOC reported on Monday, Nov. 15 that the nine LGUs hit 60 percent of the week’s target for the first dose, after they were able to administer a combined 89,160 jabs out of the 148,000 target doses of vaccines against Covid-19. For the second dose, the LGUs reached 139 percent of their target after administering 53,157 jabs out of the available 38,151 doses.
These LGUs are the highly urbanized cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu; component cities of Talisay and Naga; and municipalities of Minglanilla, Consolacion, Cordova and Liloan.
Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, VVOC spokesperson, considered the uptick in numbers of vaccinated individuals on Nov. 8-14 good news, saying it contributes to Central Visayas’ efforts in achieving herd immunity.
According to the World Health Organization, at least 70 percent of the population must have immunity against Sars-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19) to break the chain of transmission, and through vaccination individual immunity and herd immunity can be achieved safely.
“We saw that last week, we were at 34 percent (in the first dose vaccination). Now, at 60 percent, we are much improved compared to the previous weeks,” Loreche said.
For the first dose for both age categories of 18 and above and minors 12 to 17 years old, Cebu City logged 32,611 jabs (68 percent); Mandaue City, 14,890 (60 percent); Lapu-Lapu City, 17,838 (64 percent); Talisay City, 8,329 (69 percent); Naga City, 3,163 (40 percent); Minglanilla, 4,139 (52 percent); Consolacion, 2,189 (24 percent); Cordova, 1,499 (60 percent); and Liloan, 4,502 (60 percent).
For the second dose for those 18 years old and above, Cebu City logged 21,658 jabs, (120 percent); Mandaue City, 5,797 (102 percent); Lapu-Lapu City, 15,476 (226 percent); Talisay City, 3,754 (299 percent); Naga City, 704 (165 percent); Minglanilla, 1,618 (113 percent); Consolacion, 2,163 (130 percent); Cordova, 410 (90 percent); and Liloan, 1,577 (65 percent).
Meanwhile, the Philippines’ national vaccination program continues to gain momentum, as the country’s daily vaccination rate breached the one million mark twice within this month.
Last Nov. 10, one million Filipinos were vaccinated against Covid-19. The number increased to 1.2 million on Nov. 11, according to Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Assistant Secretary Wilben Mayor, who is also the National Task Force against Covid-19’s head of strategic communications on current operations.
Mayor congratulated LGUs throughout the country, particularly the cities of Baguio and Iloilo, for ramping up their vaccination throughput and achieving high inoculation rates. (JOB / SunStar Philippines)