DESPITE already reaching more than 70 percent herd immunity for the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccines, the Davao City Government will still participate in the three-day “National Vaccination Day.”
The National Vaccination Day will be held from November 29 to December 1, 2021. It aims to inoculate 15 million people nationwide.
Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said in a radio interview on Monday, November 15, that Davao City’s participation was confirmed by the Vaccination Cluster.
The City has already administered 951,686 first doses, achieving 73.21 percent coverage out of the targeted 1.2 million herd immunity, while 875,080 doses were inoculated for the second dose, having a target rate of 67.31 percent.
Despite the large number of vaccinated individuals, this is still not enough as the City Government is targeting to inoculate an estimated 1.2 million Dabawenyos before the end of 2021.
Duterte-Carpio said the City will prioritize the roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines during the period.
“Sa pag-roll out nato aning (In the vaccine rollout this) November 29 to December 1, ato sang i-set aside ang ubang bakuna, and magfocus ta aning (we will set aside other vaccines and we will focus) in the vaccines of Covid-19. We will support the direction of DOH [Department of Health] and the national government for the 15 million jabs,” the mayor said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.
She said the City is also allotting certain days for the vaccination of other diseases.
“Dili lang man gud Covid-19 ang atong gina-rollout na mga bakuna. Daghan kaayo ta bakuna gina-roll out. Sa pagkakaron, we set certain days na naga-roll out ta og laing bakuna (We are not only rolling out Covid-19 vaccines but also other vaccines for other diseases. For now, we will schedule these other vaccines some other time),” Duterte-Carpio said.
“Because dili lang Covid-19 ang problema nato na sakit especially we are a developing country (As a developing country, we also have other diseases to deal with),” she added.
She added that the City will conduct mobile vaccinations for this vaccination day.
She has yet to get the target number of vaccine doses set for the city.
Councilor Mary Joselle Villafuerte, committee chairperson on health, said in a recent interview that the city should also intensify its routine immunization among infant children after also seeing a low turnout.
Villafuerte, who was a guest speaker during the 22nd Philippine National Immunization Conference, said there is a need to strengthen immunization among these age groups to prevent another outbreak.
The councilor attributed the limited movement due to existing rules and regulations as a contributing factor for the low turnout on pediatrics immunization, particularly those getting vaccines against measles and polio.
Meanwhile, the National Vaccination Days will be simultaneously held in 16 regions and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.