ILOILO City – This southern city has to vaccinate 450,000 of its total population to achieve herd immunity against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
As of July 8, City Health Office’s (CHO) data showed 3.70 percent or 17,020 of the target population have so far been fully vaccinated (two doses) – 16,980 received Sinovac vaccine while 40 got AstraZeneca.
Meanwhile, 95,488 individuals (21.21 percent of the target population) had been administered with their first dose. Some 77,182 individuals got Sinovac vaccines, 17,616 had AstraZeneca while 690 received Pfizer vaccines.
Here are the interval of doses of the vaccines issued an emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration:
* Sinovac – two doses, four weeks (28 days) apart
* AstraZeneca – two doses, four to 12 weeks apart
* Pfizer – two doses, three to four weeks (28 days) apart
According to Mayor Jerry Treñas, he is continuously asking for more vaccines from the national government so more people in the city will be inoculated.
“We need more for first doses. Naubos na naton ang 30,000 of the 50,000 doses (from the national government), the rest are reserved for second doses,” said Treñas, referring to the 50,000 recently given by the National Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF).
With its five big vaccination sites and now with the barangay vaccination centers, Treñas said the city can vaccinate up to 30,000 to 40,000 people each week.
As of now, the city is banking on the national government for vaccines.
Treñas said the vaccines that the city government ordered may be arriving this month but by tranches.
But these won’t be enough, he stressed.
MORE BRGY-BASED VAX SITES
Aside from Barangay Calumpang in Molo district, the pilot area for the barangay-based vaccination, the city is eyeing three more barangays – Calaparan (Arevalo district) and San Juan and Boulevard in Molo.
“We need to innovate so we can bring the vaccines to those who need them the most,” said Treñas.
The barangay-based vaccination kicked off on July 9 in Calumpang; 300 residents, mostly senior citizens, persons with disabilities and those with comorbidities were vaccinated. Five bedridden senior citizens also availed themselves of the anti-coronavirus jabs via house-to-house vaccination./PN
