The city government here will launch a massive coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) booster shots campaign to sustain protection for residents amid the pandemic.
Data from the Department of Health-Western Visayas (DOH-6) on Wednesday showed that although Bacolod has reached a 145 percent vaccination coverage rate among its adult population, those who have received booster shots were only about 22 percent.
Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez acknowledged the city’s low coverage for booster doses.
“Our take-up for booster shots is not that much. We will soon launch a booster drive to encourage the people to do as much as we can,” he said.
Currently, Covid-19 booster doses are available in shopping malls, barangay health centers, and the City Health Office for children aged 12 to 17, adults, and senior citizens.
In the 18 to 59 age group, some 515,516 individuals here have been fully vaccinated, which is 160.26 percent of the target 321,665, while 68,540 or 21.31 percent have been boosted.
For those 60 and above, a total of 79,132 residents, or 130.45 percent of the target 60,661 have completed their doses, while 13,762 or 22.69 percent have availed of booster shots.
At this point, Benitez said people will have to learn to live with Covid-19.
“It will not disappear. It will always be there,” he said.
The mayor said there is a need to intensify the education campaign so that residents would know how to treat themselves since most of the cases are just on home isolation or quarantine.
“The idea is to be able to educate our citizenry on how to take care of themselves,” he added.
Until July 15, Bacolod is still under Alert Level 1, the lowest category in the country’s Covid-19 alert level system.
Source: Philippines News Agency
