BAGUIO CITY(PIA)- The Department of Health Center for Health and Development Cordillera (DOH–CAR) bolsters vaccination activities in the region with the expected arrival of additional 141,150 doses of Coronavirus Diseases (COVID–19) vaccines and hiring of 185 nurses and midwives as vaccinators.
DOH–CAR Medical Officer III Dr. Anachris Kilakil reported during the Regional Vaccination Operations Center (RVOC) virtual meeting on Sept. 28 that the additional vaccines include 89,070 doses of Sinovac; 39,780 doses of Pfizer, and 12,300 doses of Moderna. All vaccine allocations will be for the 2–dose requirement of each eligible recipient from the Priority A1–A5 groups.
As the region targets to fully vaccinate 70% of the eligible population in Cordillera, Kilakil advised the provincial/city VOCs to strategize and plan their vaccination activities so as to maximize the use of the allocated vaccines at the soonest possible time.
Kilakil said DOH will hire additional human resources composed of 153 nurses and 32 midwives to serve as vaccinators. She called on provincial VOCs to allocate the distribution of manpower based on the vaccine allocation and target populations in their respective municipalities and to rotate their deployment depending on the needs of the local vaccination teams.
RVOC Chairperson and DOH–CAR Regional Director Dr. Ruby Constantino outlined the importance of providing protection to majority of the eligible population in the region especially the high risk groups at the soonest possible time as cases continue to increase due to the threat of the more transmissible COVID-19 variants.
The RVOC also shared the National Vaccination Advisory No. 89 which provides the guidelines for RVOCs and LVOCs to fast track the inoculation of unvaccinated public and private schools teaching and non–teaching personnel from basic to higher educational institutions including child development centers and technical–vocational schools as part of priority A4 within their jurisdictions.
For the vaccination accomplishments in CAR, the RVOC as of the Sept. 23 data showed a total of 730,487 COVID–19 vaccine doses were administered to eligible population in priority A1 to A5 groups in the region.
Of the vaccinated population, 381,998 received their first dose while 360,790 are already fully vaccinated. **JDP/CCD-CAR
