ILOILO – To make the vaccines against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-9) more accessible to people, the Iloilo Provincial Health Office (IPHO) has opened a vaccination site at the Iloilo Airport in Cabatuan town.
The airport vaccination commenced on March 16 and from hence would be conducted daily, Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“We have vaccination at the Iloilo Airport to cater sa tanan nga gusto magpabakuna especially ang naga-abot bala naton nga mga fellow Ilonggos from other parts of the country nga still unvaccinated or indi pa fully vaccinated,” said IPHO head Dr. Maria Socorro Colmenares-Quiñon.
Available are COVID-19 vaccines as first dose, second dose and as booster shot.
IPHO seeks to further widen its vaccination coverage. As of March 13, 1,108,561 persons (or 66 percent of the target population) were already fully-vaccinated.
By the end of March, the IPHO hopes to have vaccinated 70 percent of the target population.
“Bululigan naton nga mag-Alert Level 1 na ang Iloilo province. Panawagan sa mga barangay captain kag sa mga wala pa nakapabakuna, community mobilization ang kinahanglan,” said Quiñon.
Here are the conditions that would qualify an area to be de-escalated to Alert Level 1, according to the nation Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases:
* minimal to low risk classification
* total bed utilization rate is less than 50 percent
* 70 percent of the area’s target population has been fully vaccinated
* 80 percent of the area’s target A2 population has been fully vaccinated
Of particular focus for the IPHO is the A2 priority group or senior citizens. The fully vaccinated in this group has not yet reached 80 percent – just 73.01 percent – of the target 239,155 senior citizen population./PN
