21 percent of Negrenses inoculated, Bacolod to start vaccinating minors

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD City – Negros Occidental Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said 377,318, or 21 percent of 1,825,370 Negrenses who are eligible for vaccination against COVID-19 have received their doses.

Negros Occidental has a population of 2,607,671.

Diaz said that they still need to vaccinate 1,448,052 Negrenses.

Earlier, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said that the provincial government may achieve herd immunity against COVID-19 by February 2022 if they manage to administer 300,000 doses every month.

Diaz reported that the provincial government is performing at 90.76 percent in terms of vaccines delivered to all local government units (LGUs) in Negros Occidental.

“We will keep doing this even during the weekends,” Diaz said.

He said he asked Provincial Health Officer Dr. Ernell Tumimbang to lobby with all LGUs to continue their vaccination activities on Saturdays and Sundays when most residents are in their respective homes.

Diaz said the provincial government is supporting all efforts of the LGUs that are “geared towards promoting our vaccination program.”

He added that the approval of Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson of special flights of Philippine Airlines (PAL) for fully-vaccinated individuals is also a means for people to get themselves vaccinated.

“It is about helping each other. Give incentives to motivate everyone to get themselves vaccinated,” Diaz also said.

La Carlota City topped the 31 local government units of Negros Occidental with high performance in the vaccination program, with 42 percent of their target population having received the vaccine.

La Carlota City has vaccinated 20,016 of its 47,125 target population.

Silay City ranked second with 34,698 of the 52,779 target population (37 percent) already vaccinated.

The cities of Victorias and Talisay and the municipality of Pulupandan complete the top 5.

Meanwhile, Bacolod City will start vaccinating minors with comorbidities against COVID-19 on November 5.

These minors belong to “Pediatric A3” priority group, or persons aged 12 to 17 years old with comorbidities.

“We have waited long for the vaccination of minors. The Department of Health (DOH) has given its green light for ‘Pediatric A3,’ and we are more than ready to officially start the rollout and get them vaccinated against COVID-19,” the Emergency Operations Center- Task Force (EOC-TF) said in a statement.

The EOC-TF added that the vaccination of minors is part of the protection of “high-risk or vulnerable groups.”

According to the DOH, the Pediatric A3 vaccination will focus on minors whose comorbidities include HIV, cancer, and tuberculosis, among others.

Minors who have down syndrome are also qualified to get inoculated under this category.

Only Moderna or Pfizer vaccines will be administered to these minors, the DOH added.

“We are now master listing 12 to 17-year-old kids in preparation for the rollout of vaccines for Pediatric A3 on November 5,” said EOC executive director Em Ang.

Parents of minors under the Pediatric A3 group may register their children through the following link: https://tinyurl.com/bcdceirminors.