Davao City – At least 200,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for distribution in the Davao Region are scheduled to arrive at the Davao International Airport at 6 a.m. Thursday, June 10, a local health official said Wednesday.
Dr. Ashley Lopez, acting head of the City Health Office (CHO), told the Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR 87.5) that this is the biggest allocation of COVID-19 vaccines that the region will receive from the national government since the mass vaccination started last March 5.
For Davao City, Lopez said they continue to cater the A1 category (health workers), A2 (senior citizens) and A3, or persons with co-morbidities, particularly those aged 18 to 59 years suffering with illnesses or co-morbidities such as chronic respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, cerebrovascular disease, hypertension, malignancy, diabetes, obesity, chronic liver disease, neurologic disease and immunodeficiency disease.
The vaccination for A3 started in the city only last May 31. In the National Capital Region and neighboring areas, the inoculation of the A4 category, or the frontline personnel in essential sectors, including uniformed personnel, kicked off on Monday.
Lopez said close to 119,000 individuals in this city have been inoculated with COVID-19 vaccines as of Wednesday. Of this figure, around 20,000 have been fully vaccinated.
He said they are hoping for a continuous supply of COVID-19 vaccines for the region, to avoid interruption in the inoculation drive to stem the spread of the virus.
Lopez noted that the operations of 21 vaccination sites across the city were temporarily stopped as supplies ran out.
He said the local government is targeting to open four more vaccination sites to hasten the city’s vaccination program and accommodate more recipients.
The city targets to vaccinate at least 10,000 persons daily. The local government opened on June 3 its biggest vaccination hub at the 2,000-square meter The Enderun Tent in Azuela Cove, which can accommodate 1,000 recipients daily.
Based on DOH-Davao data, the region has so far received 432,050 doses of COVID-19 vaccines from the national government, including 44,800 doses of CoronaVac that arrived in the region on Tuesday.
The Beijing-based biopharmaceutical company Sinovac developed CoronaVac,
Lopez reminded the Dabawenyos to continue observing basic health protocols even after they are fully vaccinated because “it’s not a guarantee that you will be 100% protected.”
“Remember that even if you have completed two doses of (COVID-19) vaccines, you need to maintain basic health protocols because you can still be re-infected,” he said.
The city was placed under the stricter Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine from June 5 to 20 in a bid to break the surge in COVID-19 cases here.
DOH-Davao reported 244 new cases in the city on Tuesday, bringing the total to 18,653, with 2,683 active cases, 15,186 recoveries and 784 deaths.
Region-wide, DOH-Davao reported 382 new cases, bringing the total to 31,123, with 5,031 active, 24,912 recoveries and 1,180 deaths.
Davao City recorded the highest COVID-19 cases not just in the Davao region but all throughout Mindanao.
Davao de Oro reported 2,278 COVID-19 cases, Davao del Norte with 5,828, Davao del Sur with 2,098, Davao Occidental with 370 and Davao Oriental with 1,896.
(Antonio L. Colina IV, MindaNews, photo courtesy by Manman Dejeto)