By Che Palicte | Philippine News Agency
DAVAO CITY – The Department of Health in Davao Region (DOH-11) urged the public to get vaccinated in time for the holidays and to achieve population protection before the month ends.
The regional health office is targeting around 3.7 million individuals to get inoculated in the whole region by Nov. 30.
As of Nov. 7, a total of 1.5 million individuals have been fully vaccinated with the life-saving shots or about 40.28%.
DOH-11 Assistant Director Lenny Joy Rivera urged vaccinated individuals to encourage their family members, co-workers, friends, and neighbors to get protected against the disease by getting the shot, saying it is the only road to a safer new normal and recovery from the pandemic.
“As the holiday season is fast approaching and as we safely reopen the economy in adherence to the minimum public health standards and ensuring to have an added protection from the COVID-19 vaccine, we can go to work and be with our family and love one’s safely and can mitigate the potential increase of cases,” Rivera said in an interview Monday (Nov. 8) with the Philippine News Agency.
Safe and effective
She allayed fears of getting vaccinated, reiterating that all COVID-19 vaccines issued with Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the Philippine Food and Drug Administration are safe and effective.
“All vaccines are safe, effective, and would reduce the risk of severe illness and prevent death should they infected with the virus,” Rivera said.
While vaccination is not mandatory, government and health officials encourage the public to register with their local government units and get inoculated.
Last Nov. 4, the Philippines administered over one million COVID-19 vaccine doses in a single day since the start of the vaccination rollout last March.
The country’s vaccination program continues to accelerate with over 29.2 million Filipinos fully protected against COVID-19 as of Nov. 6.
The latest data from the National COVID-19 vaccination dashboard showed a total of 63,412,955 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered nationwide.
Of the total jabs, 34,202,563 were given as first doses and 29,210,392 were second doses. (PNA) – bny
