BAGUIO CITY (PIA) — The Department of Health-Cordillera kicked off on Monday (May 23) the “Last Mile Vaccination Convergence Activity” targeting the provinces of Benguet and Ifugao.
DOH-CAR Assistant Regional Director Dr. Amelita Pangilinan said that the Regional Inter Agency Task Force composed of various government agencies embarked on the last efforts to reach out to unvaccinated individuals in Benguet and Ifugao in order to reach the 70 percent of the target population.
Pangilinan said this was an effort to de-escalate the alert level status of Benguet and Ifugao from Alert Level 2 to 1. The two provinces are the remaining provinces in the Cordillera region which wre still placed under a higher alert level status as they have not yet reached 70 percent of its population on the vaccination coverage.
“Despite the efforts of the provincial and municipal governments of both provinces of Benguet and Ifugao, they still have the lowest number of vaccination coverage. This is also the reason why both provinces are still placed under Alert Level 2 by the National IATF,” said Pangilinan.
She explained that the focus of the convergence activity was to advocate the vaccination of second doses to increase fully vaccinated coverage until the barangay level especially the senior citizens. They also encouraged the vaccination of 5 to 11 years old children for their protection as they transition to face-to-face classes.
The DOH team were also be joined by personnel from the regional and provincial offices of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Dept. of Education, Dept. of Social Welfare and Development, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, Bureau of Fire Protection, and Philippine Information Agency with the provincial and municipal local government units thru their respective health offices.
Teams were deployed in the barangays in the identified municipalities for the week-long activity from May 23 to 27, 2022.
The targeted municipalities in Benguet included Bakun, Kapangan, Kibungan and Kabayan while in Ifugao were Aguinaldo, Asipulo, Banaue, Hingyon, Hungduan, Mayoyao and Tinoc. These had the lowest in terms of vaccinated individuals.
The May 22, 2022 data of the Cordillera Regional Vaccination Operations Center show that there are 1,250,419 vaccinated individuals with at least one dose and 1,184,325 who are fully vaccinated. Based on the target 1,481,793 eligible population in the Cordillera, 84.39 percent vaccinated with at least one dose and 79.93% fully vaccinated.
Benguet logged 240,696 fully vaccinated individuals or 60.99% of the 394,649 target population while Ifugao only has fully vaccinated 92,374 individuals or 53.66% of its 172, taget population.
Benguet Provincial DOH Office – DMO V Dr. Mercy Calpito said the teams will have the challenging task of convincing those who are eligible but adamant not to be vaccinated to finally submit themselves for vaccination and be protected from the possible severe effects of the COVID-19.
Aside from COVID-19 IEC and vaccination, the DOH will also be providing the catch-up immunization for all children and infants for their routine immunization and assist the LGUs in providing essential public health services.
The health officers continue to appeal to the public particularly in the identified areas to support the efforts of the government to provide protection against the COVID-19 and other vaccine-preventable diseases for individuals, families and communities in Benguet and Ifugao thru the Last Mile Vaccination Convergence Activity.**JDP/RMC- PIA CAR
