91.58% full vaccination likely for Bacolod before Christmas

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Bacolod City will most likely attain a 91.58 percent full vaccination of its target population of more than 400,000 before Christmas, an Emergency Operations Center doctor said.

Dr. Chris Sorongon, EOC deputy for medical and data analysis, said Bacolod already logged a 76.86 percent full vaccination, while 14.72 percent of the target population had received the first dose.

“If they get fully vaccinated in the next two weeks, Bacolod will have a 91.58 percent vaccination output of its total target population before Christmas,” he added.

The Bacolod EOC was given a quota of 24,000 to vaccinate in the next national vaccination drive set on Dec. 20 to 22, from the initial schedule of Dec. 15 to 17.

Dr. Chris Sorongon, EOC deputy for medical and data analysis, administers COVID booster shot to 19-year-old Ryle Sarmiento.

The Department of Health and national Inter-Agency Task Force yesterday postponed the scheduled massive vaccination rollout this week in select areas, like Bacolod and Negros Occidental, and other areas in Western Visayas, that will most likely be affected by severe tropical storm “Odette”.

The target vaccination for Bacolod is equivalent to 8,000 residents every day for the three-day activity. But Sorongon said the EOC is aiming to administer the first dose to 40,000 residents in three days since almost an exact number of doses of the Janssen vaccine by Johnson and Johnson will arrive within the week.

Sorongon said this is good for those who prefer the single dose vaccine.

He added that vaccines being kept at the cooling facility of the Bacolod Government Center have an expiry date of February 2022.

“What we are doing is we have a daily huddle where an inventory update is presented and the closest to the expiry date will be used first,” Sorongon said as he clarified that the vaccines at hand have longer shelf-life and will be administered before the year ends.

Meanwhile, Sorongon said that while the DOH 6 has downgraded the alert level of Bacolod from 2 to 1 this week, based on the latest evaluation on the number of new COVID cases and hospitalization rate, the EOC would still want Bacolodnons to abide by the guidelines under Alert Level 2.

This is to avoid a sense of complacency of the people during the holidays that may cause another spike, he added.

Although the country is still free from the COVID Omicron variant, people should not drop their guard. The health protocols under Alert Level 2 will remain and the use of facemasks is strictly required, physical distancing should be observed, and preferably small gatherings should be done in open areas, Sorongon said. — MML