By Alexander Lopez | Philippine News Agency
BUTUAN CITY – A least eight barangays in the province of Dinagat Islands have achieved a vaccination rate of more than 50% among its residents as of Nov. 28.
The barangays were named in Executive Order (EO) 11-06 issued by Governor Arlene Bag-ao on Monday (Nov. 29) afternoon.
The EO, a copy of which was obtained by the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Tuesday (Nov. 30), set guidelines and protocols as the province was placed under Alert Level 3 by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).
The order also adopted the IATF guidelines on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Alert System, particularly on movements of persons in areas declared under Alert Level 3.
Six of the barangays with high vaccination rates are located in the town of Cagdianao, along with the municipalities of Libjo and Dinagat with one barangay each.
In Cagdianao, the village of Boa has the highest rate of fully vaccinated residents with 70.6%, followed by Valencia with 69.8%, Sta. Rita (58.9%), San Jose (54.7%), Poblacion (53.7%), and Cabungaan (50.7% percent).
Barangay Osmeña in Libjo also logged a 67.1% full vaccination rate, while Escolta in Dinagat municipality had 50.5%.
Under the new EO issued by Bag-ao, all residents of the identified barangays may travel outside the province without presenting a negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).
All employees of national line agencies (NLA) with a 100% full vaccination rate may also travel outside the province without presenting a negative RT-PCR upon their return.
The concerned NLA employees, the EO added, must be residents of barangays with at least a 50% vaccination rate.
“All residents are highly encouraged to participate in the Bayanihan, Bakunahan: National Vaccination Days on Nov. 29, 2021 to Dec. 1, 2021 in their respective municipalities, in addition to the conduct of regular vaccination programs of all municipal rural health units,” the governor said in her order. (PNA) – bny
