Dismal turnout plagues vax centers in Metro Cebu for second straight week

CEBU, Philippines —  For two weeks in a row, vaccinations in Metro Cebu town remained low from September 13-18, the Visayas COVID-19 Vaccination Operation Center said yesterday.

VVOC spokesperson Dr. Mary Jean Loreche said that only 25,891 doses or 18 percent of the 141,750 target doses were actually administered within the period.

“We have the vaccines, we have the vaccination sites but the takers are fewer this time due to vaccine hesitancies and brand preference,” said Loreche.

From September 6 to 12, 2021, only 23,672 doses of the 141,750 target doses were actually administered in the same LGUs.

“Sobrang baba po talaga. Way off po talaga tayong lahat. Kaya nanawagan tayo na hwag pong matakot, tayo ang  magpabakuna,” Loreche said.

Cebu City had weekly target doses of 48,000 but only managed to administer 12,038 doses; Mandaue City, 3,040 out of 25,000; Lapu-Lapu City, 5,334 of 28,000; Talisay City, 1,681 of 22,000; City of Naga, 580 of 8,000; Minglanilla,  681 of 8,000; and Consolacion, 1,259 of 9,000.

For the town of Cordova, it had a target of 3,750 but only 1,259 doses were administered.

For the last week, all these LGUs had a total eligible vaccinees of 1,818,312, of which 1,780,748 were masterlisted.

Last September 6 to 12, only 23,672 doses were administered or 17 percent against the 141,750 target doses in Metro Cebu LGUs and Cordova town.

The cumulative count of administered doses in the entire Cebu as of September 19, 2021 was 1,856,652 doses. This is broken down as follows: 648,31 in Cebu province; 572,796 in Cebu City; 327,345 in Mandaue City; and 308,198 in Lapu-Lapu City.

As of September 19, the entire Cebu has 3.6 million eligible population for vaccination.

As of the same date, 825,272 have been fully vaccinated.

Mandaue milestone

Meanwhile, Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes was happy to announce that the city has already fully vaccinated more 50% of its eligible population.

“Dakong pasalamat nako sa mga Mandauehanon nga ni sanong sa atong panawagan nga magpabakuna batok COVID-19. Sa wala pa nagpabakuna, pabakuna na. This is our main protection against COVID-19,” Cortes said.

Data showed that 50.09 percent or 154,011 of the 307,455 eligible population for inoculation in Mandaue City was already fully vaccinated while 57.38 percent or 173,333 was administered with the first dose.

In a separate update, Loreche said that the Cebu Vaccination Group administered 25,465 doses in various LGUs in the province.

CVG aims to ensure well-run and safe vaccination programs in various local government units in Cebu province. The main goal of this strategy is to achieve herd immunity for Cebu the fastest possible time. — JMD (FREEMAN)