THE City Health Office (CHO) is looking at the upcoming Bakunahan Bayan: PinasLakas Special Covid-19 Vaccination Days’ to provide more protection for Cagayan de Oro City’s children at the tail end of the holiday season.
“This activity (will hopefully enable us to reach) 50 percent coverage for the first booster dose for children aged 12 years old and older. We also hope that this activity will also boost our primary dose coverage for children aged five to 11 years old,” said Dr. Ina Grace Chiu, CHO immunization program medical coordinator during Monday morning’s Covid-19 response press briefing.
Both Dr. Chiu and CHO epidemiologist Dr. Teodulfo Joselito Retuya Jr expressed hope that the three-day activity scheduled on Dec. 5 to 7 will boost the city’s vaccination coverage to the 50 percent ceiling mandated by the national government since it launched its PinasLakas vaccination program last July.
With face mask requirements eased, both officials cite vaccination as crucial in stemming late Covid-19 surges.
Dr. Chiu said that based on data from the regional Department of Health (DOH-10), the city still has 33,398 city residents who are due for booster doses.
“They gave us daily targets of 11,133 for the three-day Bakunahan Bayan campaign for us to reach the 50 percent first booster dose coverage among the 12 years old and older,” Dr. Chiu said.
The nationwide Bakunahan Bayan campaign is aimed at increasing primary booster coverage for children aged five to 11 this month, Dr. Chiu said. This comes as the national government’s vaccination campaign ends on Dec. 31 amid uncertainty over the supply of free Covid-19 vaccines.
“We will prioritize areas with low booster coverage,” Dr. Chiu said.
She said barangay leaders play a crucial role in mobilizing their constituents for the Bakunahan Bayan to be held in commercial establishments, passenger terminals, clinics, barangay health centers, and workplaces.
“We also appeal to local media to help us reach out to those unvaccinated and those who recovered from the virus. Companies can also schedule their vaccination with us,” Dr. Chiu said.
Dr. Chiu said that based on data from City Hall’s Emergency Operations Center, the city’s low hospitalization care utilization rate may indicate the city’s substantial vaccination rate.
“We still have some ways to go to reach the mandated government targets. We still don’t know whether the vaccines will be sold commercially or if the government will continue to buy because DOH has yet to give us guidelines on this,” she said. (Stephen Capillas of City Information Office)
