The Benguet Provincial Health Office has started its mobile vaccination program in the different barangays in 13 towns to achieve its target to inoculate 70 percent of the eligible population.
At present, only 82,974 or 24 percent of the 338,000 targeted individuals are fully vaccinated.
Benguet PHO 1 Meliarazon Dulay said they have jumpstarted the program in Barangays Basil, Tublay Central, and Daclan in Tublay.
Dulay, during the recent provincial Inter-Agency Task Force meeting, said the program aims to also ease the burden of the barangay health workers and frontliners in this pandemic.
She said barangays can coordinate with the municipal health offices, the PHO, or the governor’s office for the schedule of mobile vaccination.
Dulay added the vaccination of the pediatric population, or those 12 to 17 years old with and without comorbidity, will help increase the number of protected individuals in the province.
She said the pediatric population, with and without comorbidity, is estimated at 100,000 or 36 percent of the eligible population.
Aside from mobile vaccination, PHO will set up vaccination booths at the La Trinidad public market to cater to the general population especially those who have missed their schedules.
“Hopefully these groups would increase the reaching out of our target in the province. They will be part of the missing link,” Dulay said.
Gov. Melchor Diclas said the provincial police will also help in the vaccination effort of the province through their Barangayanihan program where the health sector can conduct on-site vaccination.
He said the province targets to vaccinate 11,592 individuals daily but the actual daily average vaccination is only 2,960.
Diclas said concerned offices led by the PHO would reach its target by December with the coming in of vaccines from the national government.
“As much as possible, Benguet General Hospital will conduct vaccination everyday to help reach our target herd immunity,” Diclas said. – Ofelia C. Empian
