DAVAO City is among the 23 highly urbanized cities in the country that have already achieved herd immunity against Covid-19, Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año said on Monday, December 7, 2021.
Other cities include San Juan, Mandaluyong, Pateros, Marikina, Taguig, Pasay, Las Piñas, Parañaque, Manila, Muntinlupa, Makati, Valenzuela, Quezon City, Navotas, Pasig, Malabon, Caloocan, Baguio, Angeles, Iloilo, Lapu-Lapu, and Mandaue.
“Out of the highly urbanized cities ay umaabot po na 23 siyudad ang umabot na po ng 70 percent and up na fully vaccinated,” Año said during President Rodrigo Duterte’s Talk to the People Address aired on Tuesday, December 7.
“So ibig sabihin po, almost sa target population ay nakamit na ang herd immunity sa target population,” he added.
Notably, Davao City is the only area in Mindanao to reach population immunity.
According to the Davao City Vaccination Cluster as of December 1, the city has already achieved 87 percent herd immunity for the first dose or a total of 1,136,577 vaccinated persons, while 967,053 doses of Covid-19 vaccine have already been administered for the second dose, bringing the herd immunity percent to 75 percent.
On the part of the city, this is still a number to improve as Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said the city is targeting to vaccinate a total of 1,299,894 Dabawenyos.
The mayor added the city is targeting to administer 140,945 first doses to achieve herd immunity before the end of the year.
"We are looking at 140,945 first doses [to achieve herd immunity] assuming that we have 15 days na lang nabilin (left)," Duterte-Carpio said.
She added the remaining 140,000 unvaccinated doses might not be achievable in just 15 days.
"Ako personally, I am not optimistic na makuha nato 'tong 100,000 plus in just 15 days, but of course, we hope that we will be able to finish all the first doses of the 70 percent target herd immunity of the population by year-end," the mayor said.
Covid-19 Task Force Spokesperson Dr. Michelle Schlosser said in a recent interview that the city has now also increased its target from the 1.2 million herd immunity to "100 percent vaccination" of the estimated 1.8 million total population.
This, after the city had now started rolling out the vaccines to the pediatric age groups 12 to 17 years old.
“Naa na ta sa level na duol na gyud ta sa makuha nato ang herd immunity. Dili lang 70 percent atong goal, but we are aiming for 100 percent (We are nearing the level wherein we are almost hitting the herd immunity. But we do not only settle to hit the 70 percent goal, but we are aiming for 100 percent),” Schlosser said Friday, December 3.
The Department of Health (DOH) emphasized the importance of achieving the 70 percent herd immunity of the total population, as this would protect the remaining population that remains unvaccinated, including age groups below 11 years old. (With SunStar Philippines)