A total of 30,821 individuals in Pangasinan has been inoculated with the corona virus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccine as of April 26.

The Covid-19 vaccination program of the province which kicked off last month targeted the health workers and older adult (senior citizens) populace (A1.1 and A1.2) as among the top priority sectors.

Based on the report prepared by the Provincial Health Office (PHO), the province has inoculated some 26,772 individuals using SinoVac CoronaVac while 4,049 were inoculated with Oxford AstraZeneca.

Vaccinations were conducted at various health facilities to include city health offices, rural health units through the inter-local health zones of the provincial government, private hospitals and the 14 government-run hospitals namely, Pangasinan Provincial Hospital, Eastern Pangasinan District Hospital, Western Pangasinan District Hospital, Urdaneta District Hospital, Lingayen District Hospital, Bayambang District Hospital, Mangatarem District Hospital, Umingan Community Hospital, Asingan Community Hospital, Pozorrubio Community Hospital, Bolinao Community Hospital, Manaoag Community Hospital, Mapandan Community Hospital and Dasol Community Hospital.

Priority eligible A include the following: A1-Workers in Frontline Health Services; A2- Senior Citizens; A3- Persons with Co-Morbidities; A4- Frontline Personnel in essential sectors, including uniformed men; A5- Indigent Population.

For eligible B the following are its composition: B1- Teachers, Social Workers; B2- Other Government Workers; B3- Other Essential Workers; B4- Socio-Demographic groups at significantly higher risk other than senior citizens and poor population; B5- Overseas Filipino Workers; B6- Other Remaining Workforce. The rest of the population not otherwise included in the groupings belong to priority eligible C.

Earlier, Provincial Health Officer Anna Maria Teresa De Guzman disclosed that Pangasinan targets to inoculate at least 1.09 million individuals to attain the herd immunity tantamount to the 70 percent of total population of the province. Currently, Pangasinan has a population of over 3 million.

As such, the provincial health officer in her previous statements urged Pangasinenses to trust the vaccine and disregard all misconceptions about it.

As to the LGUs’ participation on the vaccination program, all 48 towns/cities have complied with the vaccination roll-out activities which represents 100% compliance rate. (/Ruby R. Bernardino)