BY GLENDA TAYONA and IME SORNITO
ILOILO City – For several weeks now, Western Visayas has maintained the decreasing trend of its active cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
From the last week of April to May 20, daily new confirmed cases ranged from two to 10 only, data from the Department of Health (DOH) showed.
As of May 20, total active cases were less than a thousand.
The island-province had zero cases.
Iloilo province had the most number of active cases at 311 followed by Aklan (191), Negros Occidental (113), Iloilo City (69), Capiz (52), Bacolod (45), and Antique (five) for a total of 786 cases.
On the other hand, the region’s recovered cases were now at 177,073 while the death toll reached 5,753 cases.
In Iloilo province, frontline healthcare workers and senior citizens were being urged to get second COVID-19 vaccine booster shots for better protection against the disease, and particularly against new variants and subvariants of the virus causing it.
Frontline healthcare workers (A1) and senior citizens (A2) can now receive their second booster shot. In a joint statement, the Department of Health (DOH) and the National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC) said mRNA vaccines such as Moderna and Pfizer were the available second booster doses for the A1 and A2 population.
Earlier, the Food and Drug Administration granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the second booster doses for healthcare workers and the elderly.
The DOH, through the NVOC, released Department Memorandum No. 2022-0206 outlining the interim operational guidelines on the administration of the second booster dose for senior citizens and healthcare workers.
The second booster shot must be given at least four months after the administration of the first booster dose.
According to Iloilo Provincial Health Office (IPHO) IPHO head Dr. Maria Socorro Colmenares- Quiñon, “two vaccine doses alone will not protect us because ang vaccines protection nga gina-provide could only last up to six months. Amo na nga nagapang-boostera kita, and gin-allow nga maka-second booster shot ang aton senior citizens and frontline health workers, aside from the immune-compromised,” said Quiñon.
The booster shots were safe, she stressed.
As of May 18, 159 immune-compromised individuals in Iloilo province have so far availed themselves of second booster shots.
According to DOH, the following may have second booster shots:
* those in immunodeficiency state
* those with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
* those with active cancer or malignancy
* organ transplant recipients
* those undergoing steroid treatment
* patients with poor prognosis / bed-ridden
* other conditions of immunodeficiency as certified by physician
“The second booster for our health workers and senior citizens will enhance protection given by the first booster and the primary series against all variants, including the recent Omicron subvariant BA.2.12.1. Against whatever variant there is out there, the second booster supports the 4-Door strategy,” said Health undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.
Eligible individuals can get their second booster jabs at the vaccination sites in their local government units.
The vaccinees must bring their vaccination cards showing the date of the first booster dose, and a valid government-issued ID.
As of May 18, 1,209,116 individuals in Iloilo province were deemed fully vaccinated already.
But of these, only 208,694 individuals or 12.39 percent got their first booster shot.
The provincial government targets to vaccine 1,684,570 individuals./PN
