BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – To achieve herd immunity, Negros Occidental has to inoculate 1.4 million residents against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
So far, according to Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, the province has fully vaccinated “11 to 12 percent” of the target population.
“We are still far from the 70 percent target. However, right now there are talks and suggestions to raise it to around 80 to 85 percent to reach herd immunity,” added Lacson.
In Bacolod, City Administrator Em Ang announced earlier this week that at least 51 percent of the targeted 424,992 population already received their first dose of anti-coronavirus shots.
Lacson said the provincial government will immediately roll out newly-received shipments of COVID-19 vaccines.
These consisted of 50,000 vials of CoronaVac (Sinovac) vaccine and 585 vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
The province also received 2,700 vials of the AstraZeneca vaccine , although Lacson still voiced his discontent.
The governor was expecting a more substantial shipment from the 100,000 doses that the provincial government ordered.
Nevertheless, according to Lacson, they should start rolling out the vaccines next week.
The provincial government has also received a go ahead from the Department of Health to start inoculating frontline economic workers./PN
