THE race to inoculate 34,150 senior citizens and 375,677 for the initial booster dose rolls off as Bohol local officials roll their sleeves to be given the jab and be counted.
During the Pinas Lakas national Booster vaccine campaign launch here in Tagbilaran, Governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado and local officials voluntarily received their booster shots as the Department of Health (DOH) brings in the push to bring the vaccination momentum back up and accomplish half a million jabs for senior citizens and boosters for the rest of the population.
The PinasLakas campaign is the Marcos administration’s way of boosting the country’s vaccine programs, so that progress towards a more health-conscious and safer nation is assured.
The campaign, all included in the first 100 days (F100D) of the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration seeks to vaccinate 90% for the senior citizens population as a way to protect them as vulnerable to coronavirus disease and to up the booster vaccination to 50% of the eligible population who have gotten the primary doses and would need to boost their waning immunity from the fatal disease.
The F100D countdown, which started last July 26, 2022, had already reached to 613 senior citizens in Bohol as of September 2.
That is an average of 16 senior citizens a day is deplorably low compared to the supposedly daily accomplishment target of 347 in the F100D.
On the other hand, of the 386,751 of the general population who have gone past the primary doses and needing to boost their waning immunity, Bohol has only accomplished 11,140 booster shots.
This is against a supposedly daily target of 3,867 booster shots per day.
In her report to local chief executives in the country, DOH officer in charge Maria Rosario Vergiere told mayors that the country has set to expand the vaccination of the primary series to 1,074,110 or attain a daily accomplishment of 17,902 senior citizens to achieve 90% coverage for the general senior citizens population.
On the other hand, she also said to boost the waning immunity of those who have received the primary doses, another 23,840,032 would have to be given the booster shots to accomplish 50% of the general population needing the booster.
This would be 397,334 booster shots every day for the next 60 days, if the country is to hit those marks.
As this continues, the DOH also revealed that another Marcos SONA promise to build a vaccine institute is underway.
With these efforts, combating the COVID-19 virus and other vaccine-preventable diseases will be easier for the country, DOH said.
As vaccines remain to be the best long-term solution to the pandemic, the DOH continues to encourage every Juan and Juana to get vaccinated as vaccines are proven to be safe and effective against the virus. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)
