Senior citizens of Quezon City’s District 2 were prioritized for the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccines in a special rollout on a rainy Wednesday.
From among the city’s six districts, District 2 is the most densely populated with 738,000 residents — out of nearly 3 million — according to the data of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
A report of the Quezon City Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Unit (CESU) reported that District 2 has 13,834 out of the 106,137 total cases in the city as of July 26.
Task Force Vax to Normal co-chair Joseph Juico said they received 19,000 doses of the Janssen-made jabs.
“These one-dose vaccines will immediately provide protection to a number of senior citizens. The single-dose vaccine means they will be fully protected right away and will greatly increase the total number of senior citizens who are safe in Quezon City,” Juico said in a statement.
Mayor Joy Belmonte said senior citizens must be prioritized because of the higher numbers of Covid-19 patients in the district and the threat of the more infectious Delta variant.
“District 2 has the most number of underprivileged communities, which makes them the most vulnerable to the transmission of the virus and the least able to afford hospital care. The decision to focus this vaccine supply on District 2 is based on sound evidence, including the number of cases per hundred thousand, the number of deaths, and other factors like minimal health-seeking behavior, affecting the senior citizens in the area,” Belmonte said in a statement.
CESU head Dr. Rolly Cruz said the number of Covid-19 cases in District 2 increased by 21 percent over the past 14-day period.
“Considering the population and the current case count in District 2, virus transmission is highly probable especially with the threat of the Delta variant,” Cruz said.
Cruz said even a single case may lead to multiple cases because District 2 is home to several vulnerable individuals.
Moreover, Cruz admitted that quarantine protocols are difficult to implement as houses are clustered.
“District 2 has the highest case fatality rate among all the districts in the city. Out of the 217 individuals who have died in the district, 113 or 52 percent of deaths are aged 60 and above,” Cruz added.
From July 13 to 26, the attack rates per 10,000 individuals in the two barangays in District 2 continue to increase from the previous week, with Batasan Hills rising to 3.43 from 3.08 and Bagong Silangan from 1.51 to 2.12.
The other three recorded declines: Commonwealth, from 1.81 to 1.33; Payatas, from 1.55 to 1.34; and Holy Spirit from 2.5 to 1.84.
The QC government is targeting to vaccinate a total of 300,000 senior citizens.
A total of 1,309,992 have been inoculated as of July 28, with 483,994 already fully protected.
Source: Philippines News Agency
