THE Department of Health (DOH) awarded three local government units (LGUs) in Davao Region for achieving the highest first-dose vaccination coverage of the Covid-19 vaccine.
In a press release on Saturday, December 11, DOH-Davao announced the top three LGU awardees for the highest first dose Covid-19 vaccination coverage as of December 3, 2021, namely, Davao City, Boston in Davao Oriental, and Panabo City in Davao del Norte.
Davao City achieved the highest vaccination coverage with 88 percent, followed by Boston with 79.7 percent, and Panabo City with 75.6 percent.
DOH-Davao said LGUs in the region "have taken great leaps forward in fighting the [Covid-19] virus through ongoing vaccination efforts in communities."
"The continuing success of the vaccination efforts throughout the region gives us a glimmer of hope and victories to celebrate. We honor the hard work of our healthcare heroes who have been tirelessly working to provide access to the Covid-19 vaccines to every corner of the Davao Region," DOH-Davao Director Dr. Annabelle Yumang said in a statement.
DOH-Davao has yet to provide the latest data of the vaccination statistics in the region, but based on the November 21 data, the region has already received a total of 5,399,804 vaccine doses, wherein 4,349,828 were already distributed.
Out of the total distributed doses, 1,925,617 were jabbed for first dose, while 1,500,358 were administered for second dose. A total of 152,963 were vaccinated with the single-shot Janssen vaccines.
DOH-Davao said the region is aiming to achieve a target population of 70 percent or a total of 3,759,878 individuals.
Davao City is among the 23 cities in the country to have achieved population protection, according to Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año.
Año corrected on Friday, December 10, his recent statement that these cities had already achieved "herd immunity."
Meanwhile, a second round of the nationwide vaccination drive entitled "Bayanihan Bakunahan" is slated on December 15 to 17. The drive aims to increase the number of vaccinated Filipinos against Covid-19.