The Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) is targeting to vaccinate 34,719 senior citizens from this province during the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) national vaccination set on March 10 to 12.
“We encourage the seniors to avail of the Covid-19 vaccination on March 10 to 12 so that they would be protected and feel confident when they go out of their homes as they return back to their normal lives,” said IPHO information officer Irene Dulduco in an interview Tuesday.
She said seniors are vulnerable to Covid-19 so there is a need for them to avail of the vaccination.
The vaccination for the A2 or senior citizens in Antique has a low turnout due to vaccine hesitancy and health reasons.
Of the 95,035 target eligible population, 30,792 have availed of the first dose, and 29,524 submitted for their second dose while 34,719 are unvaccinated based on the report of the Office of Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA) as of March 6.
To increase the vaccination among the seniors, the IPHO will be deploying three teams in the various municipalities of the province to augment the municipal health office (MHO) personnel during the three-day campaign.
“The IPHO teams, however, will concentrate on the vaccination of the seniors while the MHOs will cater to the other priority groups,” Dulduco said.
She said each IPHO team is composed of 10 to 15 health workers who are doctors and nurses to assist the seniors from their pre-screening to actual vaccination and post-vaccination process.
Various Covid-19 vaccines are also now available for use during the campaign.
“We have 303,706 doses of various Covid-19 vaccines such as Johnson and Pfizer being prepared,” she said.
Source: Philippines News Agency
