By Civ Alonzo-Cruz
The National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC) has released its new vaccination directives for the areas battered by Typhoon Odette to achieve the government’s target inoculation of 54 million Filipinos by the end of the year in the press briefing of the Malacañang Palace on Wednesday, Dec. 22.
Acting Presidential Spokesperson and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles revealed in the press briefing that NVOC has released its new vaccination directives for typhoon-affected areas in the country, as more displaced residents have been evacuated in temporary shelters and are dreaded to be exposed to the COVID-19 virus.
“In light of Typhoon Odette, NVOC has new directives [for the typhoon-affected areas]. Regions CAR, NCR, 1, 2, 3, and 4-A shall extend their implementation of Bayanihan, Bakuhanan part 2 from Dec.22 and continue to intensify until Dec.31,” he said.
“To achieve fully inoculating the 54 million target by the end of the year, LGUs and local VOCs [of typhoon-affected regions] are mandated to prioritize the administration of due second doses and administration of Janssen vaccines to the unvaccinated adults,” he added.
Nograles also said that local NVOCs in affected areas will be provided with new targets by extending the vaccination days up to weekends to meet the government’s vaccination goal by the end of 2021.
“All local VOCs shall be provided with new targets to meet the goal of vaccinating 54 million and are enjoined to rank up the administration of COVID-19 vaccines until Dec.31, including weekends for a total of nine days,” he said.
The Cabinet Secretary said that the government sympathizes with the situation of Visayas and Mindanao but he also emphasized the country’s need to fight the pandemic through continuous vaccination efforts. Necessary adjustments will be made to achieve the herd immunity goal of the country.
“We are mindful of what is happening on the ground but we are also mindful that we still need to fight this COVID-19 pandemic through massive vaccination. The target remains the same and we will make necessary adjustments. If there is a need to catch up in the first quarter of 2022, we will adjust [the vaccination efforts] accordingly,” Nograles said.
“Our NVOC will continue to ramp up our vaccination efforts and we will stick to continuing with the 54 million target [inoculated Filipinos] by the end of 2021,” he added.
As of Dec. 21, 2021, 45,284,617 individuals or 58.71% of individuals in the country are now fully inoculated, per data from the National COVID-19 vaccination dashboard. Individuals with at least the first dose are now at 60,212,001 individuals or 78.06%.
The Bayanihan, Bakunahan phase 2 is extended from Dec. 22-31, 2021 – bny
