Province misses jab target due to workforce, vax brand issues

By Joseph B.A. Marzan 

Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. on Thursday expressed optimism on the number of individuals who got vaccinated against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during the 3-day Bayanihan Bakunahan national vaccination drive, despite not being able to reach their target.

Provincial government data indicated that 134,397 individuals got vaccinated during the 3-day drive – 46,472 on Nov. 29; 38,491 on Nov. 30; and 47,470 on Dec. 1.

The data is still incomplete, as some towns have not reported their complete vaccination numbers as of this writing.

The total number is only 39.68 percent of the target set by the national and local governments.

In his regular press conference, Defensor cited vaccinators (personnel administering the vaccines), and vaccinees (individuals receiving jabs), as the reasons for the failure to reach the targets.

The province was unable to complete the needed vaccinators, as it was only able to hire 41 out of 128 required medical officers, 242 out of 336 nurses, and 534 out of 684 nursing attendants.

“Even if we tried to hire vaccinators, we are still lacking in our hiring targets. [The lack of doctors] is one of the identified problem areas of our mayors. What other mayors had been doing is that they have been converting allocations for doctors into that of nurses and nursing attendants,” the governor said.

As to vaccinees, the governor added that many individuals are still opting to wait for “more effective” brands. He cited this as the reason why he volunteered to get his Sinovac booster shot on the first day of the vaccination drive.

Defensor said reaching out to the vaccinees remains a challenge in further vaccinating the province’s residents.

“I know that it is the right of every person to choose, but at this time, we have to understand that what we need to do for our families and our fellow Ilonggos, especially that we have already tried and tested all of the available vaccines in the past months,” he said.

Despite the low turnout, the governor said they were still happy because vaccinations increased in the province.

Provincial Health Office data as of 8 p.m. of Dec. 1 indicated that 872,713, or 60 percent of the target population, have received their first dose. Of this number, 524,998, or 36 percent of the target, have been fully vaccinated.

“We are happy with our achievement because we already have our first dose [vaccinees] at 60 percent, which means that if we elevate our vaccination drive, maybe we can soon reach 70 percent at least on the first dose. (sic) Regardless of any target, our attitude here in Iloilo is that we do everything we can. We will just vaccinate as much as we can,” he added.

Defensor also announced that the provincial government will hold its own 3-day vaccination drive on Dec 15 to 17.

For this upcoming inoculation blitz, the provincial government will adapt municipalities’ best practices to address accessibility woes, and ultimately seek to maintain the level of vaccinations they had in the past 3-day drive.

“We will gather the best practices of the municipalities since we have different [practices]. We are looking for more strategies to address accessibility. Second is to maintain the level of vaccination because it all boils down to the vaccinators, because we can step up if we have more. That’s where we have to improve,” he said.

The governor said that with an increase in COVID vaccination sin the province, it would be more possible to loosen restrictions.

“The difference between last year and this year is that, now we have the vaccines. The higher the number of vaccinations, the lesser health protocols we can impose. That’s how important vaccination is in the strategy of the province,” he stated.