KALIBO, Aklan – The number of individuals who have signed up for vaccination against coronavirus virus disease 2019 (COVID-019) here is still low.
As this was being written, just over 6,000 residents in 16 barangays have pre-registered – that’s roughly only 10 percent of Kalibo’s population of 84,000.
The local government targets to inoculate at least 70 percent of Kalibo’s population to achieve herd immunity.
The low registration rate for voluntary vaccination was reported during a recent meeting of the Municipal Inter-Agency Task Force on COVID-19, according to Liga ng mga Barangay municipal federation president Ronald Marte.
“Register online or apply in person for the vaccination. We need to step up efforts to encourage our constituents to register. Get vaccinated when it is your turn,” Marte stressed.
Residents are being encouraged to register in the Kalibo COVID-19 electronic immunization registry or approach their barangay councils for pre-registration.
The local government placed an order for an initial 16,400 doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccines. The vaccines are expected to arrive this April for the vaccination of people in eligible priority groups. Health authorities are giving shots to vulnerable populations and senior citizens as part of the plan’s first phase.
It earmarked P50 million for vaccines and decided to do the vaccination at the Kalibo Pastrana Park covered court in Barangay Poblacion and Saint Gabriel College covered court in Barangay Old Buswang.
Earlier, the Aklan Catholic College gymnasium was identified as a vaccination site, too, but, the local task force recommended a new site in Barangay Old Buswang.
Meanwhile, the provincial government of Aklan initially allocated 500 doses of CoronaVac (of China’s Sinovac Biotech) for Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams, personnel of Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office and Municipal Health Office of Kalibo.
As of March 29, Kalibo’s cumulative COVID-19 cases hit 452 (since recording started in March last year), with 20 deaths. It currently has 18 active cases./PN
