By Dolly Yasa
BACOLOD City – Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson on Wednesday said that the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas alerted Negros Occidental to prepare for a bigger rollout of more COVID-19 vaccines by July or August 2021.
“Those who will still refuse (to be vaccinated) will be really missing an opportunity to protect themselves,” Lacson said.
Lacson issued the statement during the joint quarterly meeting of the Provincial Peace and Order and Anti-Drug Abuse Councils at the Provincial Capitol Social Hall.
The Inter-Agency Task Force Visayas started distributing the Visayas COVID-19 Vaccination Operations Center Manual in all provinces of Regions 6, 7 and 8.
The manual aims to provide guidance on how to set up vaccination centers and put in place a system to ensure smooth and more efficient vaccination plan.
The Provincial Health Office reported Wednesday that 16 percent of the 22,545 medical frontliners who signified their intention to be vaccinated have already completed their second dose, with 11,409 having received their first dose of vaccines.
Governor Lacson said that the 48 percent accomplishment in the vaccination of more than 22,545 health workers is not enough as he wants the PHO to review their data.
He said he was expecting by now that all frontliners are already vaccinated as the inoculation of senior citizens and those with co-morbidities already started.
Negros Occidental recently got an additional 30,800 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine.
Lacson reiterated his call for Negrenses not to hesitate in availing the COVID-19 vaccines.
“All the health experts have been saying that the vaccine is part of the biggest solution to the pandemic,” he stressed.
As of May 12, PHO reported that Negros Occidental has 2,479 active cases, with 80 percent locally transmitted. Seventy three percent of the cases are also asymptomatic.
The average daily attack rate was at 6.3 per 100,000 population, the PHO report added.
