Get vaccinated for a Merry Christmas – guv

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. on Thursday hoped that more people in the province would get vaccinated against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) so they can again enjoy the Yuletide season.

In his regular press conference, Defensor announced that the provincial government will kickstart the COVID-19 vaccination of minors aged 12 to 17 years old today, Nov. 5 in Alimodian, Leon, and San Miguel towns.

The provincial government’s target for the said age bracket is 227,662 based on their initial population projection.

The governor, however, emphasized that COVID vaccination priority is still leaning towards adults in higher priority groups.

Defensor urged residents, especially senior citizens and those with comorbidities, to get their COVID vaccines in time for the Christmas season.

“We are still experiencing a challenge with our senior citizens. Try as we have been doing, but we still haven’t been able to maximize our desire to vaccinate our elderly. Let me take this opportunity to tell our Ilonggos, especially the elderly and those with comorbidities, to please get vaccinated because we have vaccines coming. If we want to have a Merry Christmas, and to be able to do what we want at that time, let’s get vaccinated,” he added.

Defensor has been implementing Executive Order No. 628, which seeks to ramp up vaccination in the province.

The governor has previously stated his intent to vaccinate 35,000 persons daily so the province can reach its 70 percent inoculation goal by December 2021.

Through EO 628, the province has partnered with national government agencies and the private sector to augment local vaccination teams in the municipalities.

According to the EO, the National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC) has allocated 9 million COVID vaccine doses to Western Visayas.

The province is also seeking to hire around 1,092 doctors, nurses, and midwives to help administer the vaccines.

Data from the Iloilo Provincial Health Office as of Nov 3, 2021 indicated that 374,462 individuals in the province have been fully vaccinated out of 548,901 who have received at least one dose.

A person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the second dose of a two-jab vaccine.