500,000 BARMM residents vaccinated

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Nearly 500,000 residents of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

BARMM Health Minister Bashary Latiph said 198,058 have been fully vaccinated while 283,107 have received their first dose.

The Bangsamoro region covers Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

Latiph said Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi have the highest vaccination turnout.

“There is still hesitancy among residents of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur. This is something we are trying to address,” he said.

Latiph appealed to BARMM residents to ignore anti-COVID-19 vaccine rumors circulating on social media.

“Please listen only to medical frontliners and other health service providers,” he said.

In Negros Occidental, 21 percent or 377,318 of the 1,825,370 members of the eligible population have been vaccinated as of Wednesday, Provincial Inter-Agency Task Force against COVID-19 officer Rayfrando Diaz said.

Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson had earlier said the province could achieve herd immunity by February next year if they manage to administer 300,000 vaccine doses per month.

Diaz asked provincial health officer Ernell Tumimbang to ask local government units to continue vaccination activities on weekends.

Meanwhile, Bacolod City will start vaccinating minors with comorbidities on Nov. 5.