A LITTLE over a month and the local vaccination rollout against Coronavirus disease (COVID) here has reached 70.67.
The figure however is still way off the 80% vaccination coverage of the master-listed eligible individuals needed for the entire province of Bohol to be deescalated to COVID Alert Level 1.
According to the Bohol Inter-Agency task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (BIATF), fully vaccinated Boholanos have reached 782,661, which is 70.67% of the 1,106,074 Boholanos who are eligible for the vaccines.
The number is 83,337 more Boholanos who have received full protection from the fatal disease that has killed some 681 locals who have been unfortunately unvaccinated or who died before the vaccine was discovered.
Last April 3, 2022, BIATF reported 699,658 fully vaccinated Boholanos by then.
As to those with the initial doses, the multi-agency task force said Bohol vaccination team have inoculated 691,350 at the start of the month.
This month, that figure increased by 20,955 as the BIATF reported 712,305 Boholanos getting the first of possibly many more doses especially when health authorities have also hinted the need for booster doses.
Last April, BIATF said there were 75,635 who were given booster doses.
The number increased by 8,702 because as of May 5, there were already some 84,337 who were given the booster.
In May too, BIATF said some 32 individuals have received their second booster shots, as the new round of boosters stared in late April.
With this, the National Inter Agency task Force (NIATF), during their visit to Bohol to conduct the Roadshow towards the new normal, said that a place would be considered for de-escalation of its Alert Level Warnings as soon as it attains an 80% vaccination coverage, which is also reflective of the 80% of the total senior citizens population.
More than that, the NIATF also said that the place has to have managed and records a very low active COVID cases, as reflected in the low hospital room usage.
Bohol may have passed already the management and low hospital bed utilization, but with blatant disregard to the minimum public health protocols during rallies and political events as well as in fiesta gatherings, it may not be long before the numbers spike again.
Several towns in Bohol have been declared under Alert Level 1.
According to the Department of Health, only when the disease can be declared endemic can communities start to be de-escalated to Alert Level Zero, and a potential for masks-off scenario can happen in the new normal. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)
