AROUND 200,000 individuals out of the target population for anti-Covid-19 vaccine in the region are left unvaccinated, said Dr. Janis Olavides, focal person of the Covid-19 Vaccination Program of the Department of Health in Davao Region (DOH-Davao), on August 5, 2022.
“Kumpara last year, ngano niubos atong unvaccinated, is because nag retargeting man gud on the national level (Compared last year, we have fewer unvaccinated because we did a retargeting on the national level),” Olavides said during the Kapihan sa PIA media forum at NCCC Mall Victoria Plaza.
The DOH-Davao set the target population at 3,796,830, of which 85.2 percent or 3,234,203 have been fully vaccinated according to the latest DOH-Davao Covid-19 Case Bulletin as of August 1.
For those who are unvaccinated, Olavides said the agency aims to administer the first dose within the month, especially to the senior citizen population since their target is set at 90 percent. She said only 70 percent of seniors in the region are vaccinated.
“That’s our focus for this month para pag abot og (so when we reach) October, ubay-ubay na ang natagaan og full vaccination for the seniors (we would have increased the number of full vaccinated seniors),” Olavides said.
On the other hand, Olavides said they did not yet reach the target of 50 percent for all the eligible population for booster doses but they are making progress.
“Our eligible population is more than three million, dapat 1.5 million natagaan na (so our target should be 1.5 million). But we are seeing progress in Davao Region. For Davao City, they have increased from their target, previously naa sa seven percent lang (previously it was only seven percent). This also shows for other provinces as well,” she said.
Davao City Covid-19 Task Force spokesperson Dr. Michelle Schlosser, said on August 5 that the city has administered 22.02 percent first booster dose and 15.85 percent second booster from the first booster population as of July 29.
“For this week, nag improve ta og (we improved) two percent. Before, napako gyod ta og (before, we were stuck at 20 percent),” Schlosser said during an interview with the Davao City Disaster Radio.
“It’s minimal but it’s worth celebrating meaning effective na ang paglungsad sa atong district vaccination activities (have been effective),” she said.
Region-wide, there are a total of 533,181 individuals with booster or additional doses as of August 1.
Although no data was given, Olavides noted that there are vaccines that have expired, especially on the national level, due to not being used.
“Since nag hinay atong vaccination for the past months, naa pud tay bakuna nga nag expire na. We are thankful some of the vaccines have extended shelf life so magamit pa nato but ginapaningkamutan gyod sa atong local government units na magamit tanan bakuna nga naa dirisa atong health facilities (Since vaccination was slow the past months, there were some vaccines that expired. We are thankful some have extended shelf life so we can still use it but we are really pushing for the local government units to utilize all the vaccines we have at our health facilities),” Olavides said. ICM