BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Even though Negros Occidental’s vaccine utilization rate is building up steam, the Provincial Health Office (PHO) is blaming the proliferation of “fake news” on social media as the reason why many Negrenses are still hesitant to get vaccinated against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
According to Dr. Jessica Fama, PHO medical specialist, a lot of people are falling prey to false information on vaccines shared on various social media platforms, and are also “ill-informed about the sources of information”.
Fama urged the public to get information only from legitimate sources such as their office, the Department of Health (DOH) and the World Health Organization.
She is also calling on the public to be responsible disseminators of information to avoid causing anxiety or dis/misinformation to the public.
Earlier, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said the utilization of COVID-19 vaccines in the province is starting to pick-up.
Citing PHO data, Lacson revealed they have already used over 90 percent of CoronaVac vaccines made by Chinese biotechnology firm Sinovac, and 43 percent of the Britain-made AstraZeneca vaccines./PN
