By Rey Anthony Chiu | 07:37 PM September 17, 2021
In the last 16 days, Bohol tallied 96 deaths due to coronavirus disease (Covid-19), a gloomy figure that would show a shocking 6 persons who die daily.
From the records shared by the Bohol Inter Agency Task Force (BIATF) for the management of Emerging Infectious Disease, it showed that from September 1 up to September 16, 2021, Bohol’s recorded 96 Covid deaths peaked with 12 deaths recorded in September 7 and September 14.
That same 16 days, it was in September 13 that Bohol tallied the highest new cases for the period at 307, and the lowest case of new cases reported was in September 10 with 97 new cases.
And as of September 13, Bohol Vaccination Operations Center based at the Provincial Health Office also recorded 153,630 who have been fully vaccinated with the two doses of Sinovac, Sinopharm, Moderna, Pfizer, Sputnik and Astrazeneca or a single dose of Johnson and Johnsons.
Some more 163,016 Boholanos have been given their first jabs, but with 447,922 doses of the vaccines received here and a total of 316,646 already dispensed as first and second doses to prioritized residents, Bohol now has only 131,276 to be used for the next weeks of vaccination rollout.
With 163,016 soon to get their second doses in a month’s time, Bohol would still need 31,000 doses just to complete the protection of those who were given their first shots.
The target is to get to the 70 percent of the total population of Bohol to beat the fatal viral disease that has since claimed 376 lives, according to Dr. Cesar Tomas Lopez, spokesperson of the BIATF.
At 1,394,329 total population of Bohol, vaccination teams would need to get to 976,000 Boholanos to be attaining what epidemiologists claim as herd immunity when people would have attained full protection from the disease.
And if getting to 70% of the general population is way too much for Bohol to target now, a 50 percent of the entire population goal would be easier.
According to Dr. Lopez, a place where 50% of its population has been given total protection through vaccination will experience a reduction of cases from a flattened curve of cases when 30% of the place’s population is inoculated.
At 50% of population vaccinated, Bohol would need to get to 697,000 individuals, or about 200,000 more should Bohol get additional vaccines in the next few weeks if only to give the second doses to those in their first shots.
At 30% of its population inoculated, that should cause the curve to flatten, meaning there would be lesser to no more increase in cases, fewer new cases and deaths and many would recover fast.
30% of Bohol’s total population as per the latest census is some 418,270 individuals.
When Bohol’s 447,000 doses could be dispensed to Boholanos, in a month’s time, the province should have attained at least 30% vaccination coverage. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)
