LA TRINIDAD, Benguet (PIA) — The Provincial Health Office said that Benguet has the second highest number of vaccinated persons in the Cordillera Administrative Region.
PHO 1 Dr. Meliarazon Dulay explained that while Benguet is placed as the second lowest province in terms of percentage of vaccinated individuals, it is the second highest in terms of number of vaccinated persons next to Baguio City.
“Based on the target, Benguet is the second lowest in terms of the number of vaccinated persons in the region but if you see the target of all provinces, Benguet has the highest target as to number,” Dulay said in an interview following the Provincial Inter Agency Task Force meeting at the Provincial Capitol on Thursday.
Based on the Regional Vaccination Operations Center data as of January 6, 2022, 180,359 individuals are now fully vaccinated in the province of Benguet or 53.24 percent of the target population in the province which is at 338,754. The province also recorded 209,288 individuals (61.78 %) who were vaccinated with at least one dose.
The same record showed that in terms of fully vaccinated individuals, the city of Baguio has the most with 285,257 individuals or 108.8% of the target eligible population, followed by Abra with 169,656 or 97.54 %; Apayao with 64,650(74.05%); Kalinga with 107,072(69.04%), and Mountain Province with 75,178(68.23%).
The province of Ifugao is the lowest in terms of percentage at 50.52% or 75,000 fully vaccinated persons.
At least 957,172 fully vaccinated individuals have been recorded in the Cordillera region or 75.02%. CAR is targeting 1,275,904 or 70% of its population to achieve herd immunity.
Dulay said that while Baguio City has recorded more than its target population, it is be possible that some those in the Baguio data are Benguet residents who are working in Baguio who availed of the vaccination in the city and used their addresses of their workplace in city rather than their home addresses.
To validate this claim, Dulay said they suggested the conduct of a survey mapping among the residents of Benguet to look into the data of those vaccinated and not vaccinated in the households.
Earlier, Governor Melchor Diclas said that while the province has recorded increasing number of vaccinated individuals, there is a need to synchronize data of vaccinated individuals to ensure that the province would be able to vaccinate 70% of its target population in order to achieve the herd immunity against the COVID-19.
Diclas said the provincial government and the health sector are looking at the possibility of conducting house-to-house mapping in the different barangays to check on who are already vaccinated and those are not yet jabbed. This would help determine where and when the individuals were vaccinated to possibly synchronize the vaccination data in the province.
Meanwhile, the PIATF and the health sector continue to encourage the residents of Benguet to get their jabs and be protected from the COVID-19 especially now with the threat of the Omicron variant.
The PHO will be reorganizing the vaccination teams in the provincial level to be deployed in the different barangays to help in the inoculation activities. **JDP/RMC PIA-CAR
