KALIBO, Aklan – The provincial government of Aklan is appealing to the National Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (NIATF-MEID) to downgrade the province’s alert level status this December.
Aklan was placed under Alert Level 2 from Nov. 1 to Nov. 30, and again from Dec. 1 to 15.
Gov. Florencio Miraflores acknowledged that lowering the current Alert Level 2 classification to Alert Level 1 would require careful consideration.
NIATF would likely take into account the number of fully vaccinated individuals, infection rate, hospital admissions, and the general coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation of Aklan.
In Alert Level 2, all businesses and services are open but must follow the minimum health protocols like wearing of face covering and physical distancing, even for vaccinated individuals to keep everyone safe.
Miraflores urged the local government units to ramp up their COVID-19 vaccination drive.
More vaccination sites will be set up all over the province to achieve herd immunity (when at least 70 percent of the population is vaccinated).
Miraflores also encouraged nursing students to volunteer as vaccinators.
He noted the high vaccine hesitancy rate despite the vaccine being given free. Misinformation may be the cause, he said.
“Magpabakuna para sa inyong proteksyon at para sa inyong pamilya,” stressed Miraflores./PN
