An estimated 6,000 individuals from various towns of Palawan have so far received full vaccination, according to an official source.
Merick Garces, provincial immunization program officer of the Provincial Health Office (PHO), said Monday that 11,816 Sinovac and 14,000 AstraZeneca vaccines were received by their office and distributed to the municipalities for frontliners under the Palawan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Officer (PDRRMO), their own office, and other target groups.
“1.2 million ang population ng Palawan at the moment, ang 800 to 900 thousand ang dapat mabakunahan [para maabot ang herd immunity] pero ngayon sa computation ko ay nasa 6,000 pa lang ang naka-kumpleto ng second dose. Malayo pa para masabing herd immunity na 70 percent para maiwasan ang transmission,” Garces said.
Palawan has 12,000 individuals under the A1 categories or the medical frontliners, while 68,652 for the A2 category or senior citizens.
“Yong Sinovac ongoing ang second dose at ‘yong Astra ay ongoing ang first at second dose. Sa ngayon ay nasa A1 at A2 tayo pero ‘yong iba kasi may mga takot pa kaya nag-move agad tayo sa A3, hindi naman natin sila mapipilit. Malayo pa ang A4, ngayon ay A3 pa lang ang naabot,” he said.
Garces said that based on his own computation, only 6,000 individuals so far have been vaccinated.
He said there is still vaccine hesitancy among Palawenos due to various factors.
“It takes a lot of effort and patience [ang vaccination]. Problema din na may hindi naniniwala dahil sa religious factor, culture and belief hindi mo rin masabi kasi every individual ay may paniniwala,” he said.
As of now, Garces said they are continuously delivering the vaccine to every town of the province.
“Tuloy-tuloy ang pagpapadala natin kapag may dumarating. Ang naiiwan lang dito s atin ay ang buffer para sa mga kailangan bakunahan dito. Wala tayong nagiging problema sa mgaa [vaccines] pagtanggap ng mga munisipyo natin. Kahit malalayo ang mga munisipyo ay wala tayong nagiging problema kasi very active ang ating mga munisipyo,” Garces said. (with a report from Patricia Laririt)
