ILOILO City – The availability of vaccines, especially the single-dose Johnson & Johnson/Janssen, has boosted Western Visayas’ inoculation program for seniors against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Dr. Bea Camille Natalaray, Department of Health (DOH) Western Visayas medical officer, said of the 655,860 master listed senior citizens, 237,656 or 36.24 percent have been vaccinated.“This is attributable to vaccines that are coming in, especially our single-dose Janssen vaccines wherein we prioritize our senior citizens and adults with comorbidities,” she said.
Last week, 164, 490 eligible senior citizens availed themselves of COVID-19 jabs.
From July 19 to 23, Western Visayas received 289, 900 doses of Janssen, and as of Aug. 1, already 81. 26 percent equivalent to 235, 562 doses were utilized.
For the whole of Western Visayas, 806,770 have already availed themselves of their first dose and 546,316 are already fully vaccinated.
The total number of master-listed eligible recipients was 2,015,010 as of Aug. 1.
Based on the report of the Regional Vaccination Operation Center (RVOC), 317, 534 of the vaccinees were adults with comorbidities; 70,773 were economic front-liners; 6,749 were indigents; and 23, 787 were under validation.
As of July 31, the region already received 346,300 doses of AstraZeneca; 37, 440 doses of Pfizer; 4,800 doses of Gamaleya; 290,900 doses of Janssen; and 938,960 doses of Sinovac.
The health department has been encouraging eligible populations to get vaccinated as an additional layer of protection aside from the strict observance of the minimum public health standards of wearing face masks, shields, hand-washing, and social distancing. (PNA)
