By Rey Anthony Chiu/PIA-Bohol | 03:28 PM July 26, 2021
Through a ceremonial vaccination done to a member of the Provincial Board, Bohol reached out to Boholanos in a simultaneous vaccination program using some 50,000 doses of Johnson and Johnsons (J&J) single jabs on Bohol Day, July 22.
Also called Bohol Bakuna Day, the 167th founding day of Bohol was marked by an early morning ceremonial turn-over of the much needed vaccines to the towns represented by Dauis Mayor Marietta Sumaylo, representing the League of Municipalities of the Philippines.
Board Member Jescelo Adiong, sectoral representative of town councilors’ league in Bohol rolled his sleeves for his jab administered by the vaccination team from the Provincial Health Office, at the sidelines of the Bohol Day Culmination Program at the new Bohol Capitol.
Earlier, Vice Governor Rene Relampagos announced during the program the governor’s sourcing out of the vaccines in his latest trip to Manila.
In his Memorandum to the Provincial Health Officer and specifically to the Provincial Vaccination Coordinator Macchiavelia Loida Caliao, Governor Arthur Yap directed vaccination teams for July 22 to prioritize the vaccines to unvaccinated senior citizens under the A2 priority group, unvaccinated persons with comorbidities or under the A3 group.
Also included in the directive to the vaccination coordinator is to get the vaccines to high risk local government units based on their surge of cases, geographically isolated and depressed areas (GIDAs) and to Overseas Filipino Workers and seafarers, later classified under A1 group who are scheduled to go back to their deployment abroad.
The simultaneous Bohol Day vaccination came as a welcome reprieve as Bohol vaccination teams have prepared well but the delivery of sufficient vaccines stalled the preparations.
As of July 18, as per reports from the Bohol Inter-Agency task Force on the management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Bohol has accomplished a measly 13.67% total vaccination of masterlisted priority groups.
That means, of the 253,146 health and medical frontline workers, senior citizens, persons with comorbidities and workers in the necessary sectors needed to spin the cogs of the local economy, only 34,620 have been inoculated with the necessary two doses to be afforded the protection against death of severe cases of the coronavirus disease.
And of the 34,620 who have been given the two doses, about 25,947 of them or roughly 74 % are priority health and medical care workers in the frontline services, to secure and insulate them from the risk of infection, themselves being immersed with the virus in their work environments.
In fact, the 25,947 completely vaccinated health care workers comprise only the 60 % of the total 42,949 master-listed front liners, around 40% more or 17,000 health care workers are still vulnerable to infection while in the performance of their sworn duty.
Among those who have completed their double doses of protection, about 19% of them are senior citizens and 5.7 % are individuals with comorbidities.
Of the 147,631 master-listed senior citizens, only 6,686 or a mere 4.5% have been given the tow jabs, and of the 31,927 master listed persons with comorbidities, only 1,987 or 6.22 % have gotten complete protection.
And of the 30,639 essential workers in the industry and trade sector, only 6,160 or 20% have received the first dose, none yet for their second dose. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)
