The Antique provincial board on Thursday passed a resolution formally asking the National Task Force against Covid-19 for more supplies of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines.
Antique Vice Governor Edgar Denosta, the author of the resolution, said in an interview after their virtual session, more Antiqueños are now willing to avail of the jabs but the supply in the province is not enough.
“My office had received several inquiries from people who were inquiring on how they could avail of the Covid-19 vaccines that is why I authored the resolution,” he said.
He added that the reported case of the Delta variant in the province also prompted residents to get inoculated.
Board Member Mayella Mae Plameras-Ladislao, chairman of the Committee on Health, said Antique needs to have enough supply, especially because it had already a fatality from Barangay Baybay, Pandan due to the Covid-19 Delta variant on May 30.
“The unvaccinated population is at high risk for infection,” she said.
She said out of the province’s total population of 612,974 based on the 2020 census, the latest data from the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) showed that only 44,863 individuals were vaccinated for first dose and 26,243 for second dose as of July 27.
“Many Antiqueños are still waiting for their turn to be inoculated as soon as vaccines are available at their rural health units in their respective municipalities hoping against hope that vaccine supplies will be sufficient for all,” she said.
Department of Health (DOH) Antique Team Leader Dr. Feman Rene Autajay said the province is expecting an additional 12,000 doses of Sinovac from the DOH Western Visayas Center for Health Development on Thursday.
Based on the report of the IPHO, the province of Antique had received a total of 97,750 doses of Covid-19 vaccines as of Wednesday — 62,590 doses of Sinovac, 7,760 doses of AstraZeneca, 2,400 doses of Sputnik V and 25,000 doses of Janssen.
Source: Philippines News Agency