Bohol vax accomp nears 80% mark

Members of the vaccination team in Bohol walk the miles to seek out individuals eligible for vaccination and ensure that they get the right protection against COVID-19. (RAHC/PIA7 Bohol)

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, May 28 (PIA) -- One year two months and 17 days after the first anti-COVID vaccine that arrived in Bohol was administered to a frontline health worker in Bohol, health authorities implementing the vaccination program here reported nearly 800,000 Boholanos given the full protection against the fatal disease.

In its May 24 report, the Bohol Inter Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease (BIATF) bared  71.57% vaccine coverage recorded in Bohol.

That however accounts only to some 791,600, a little short of the 884,867 which is the pegged 80% of the eligible 1,106,084 population health authorities have determined to bring Bohol to herd immunity against the fatal disease that has claimed 682 Boholano lives.

BIATF, last Tuesday said there are already some 791,600 Boholanos who were given at least two shots, representing the two vaccine doses needed for a full protection against COVID.  

As to the first dose, the latest report showed that some 717,636 individuals have also received at least a dose of the vaccines.

In a month’s time, these people would also get their second dose.

In the recent months, health experts studying the pandemic have asserted that despite the complete doses, people working in high risk environments and individuals who are with comorbidities as well as senior citizens would need a booster dose of the vaccines, to survive the rare chance of a COVID infection.

In Bohol, since its first administration of the booster dose, some 87,305 have since then been inoculated and their bodies introduced with the deactivated SARS coronavirus to teach the immune system to fight future infections.

In fact, according to the vaccination teams, another 209 individuals here have been given their second booster shots, if only to increase their chances at overcoming COVID.

Since March 6 of last year then until now, vaccination teams have given a total of 1,596,750 jabs, the same report revealed.

Compared to its report given last May 12, BIATF’s recent data would show that in 11 days, Bohol vaccine teams only covered 13,923 individuals vaccinated.

This equals to a dividend of 1,265 individuals a day accomplished.

With 2,015,262 vaccine doses received since March 6 of last year, and with 1,596,750 doses already dispensed, this leaves Bohol with 418,512 doses for its vaccination rollout in the next weeks.

At the current rate that Bohol is going, it would take the teams another three months to finish vaccinating the target 884,867 to bring Bohol to the hared immunity threshold for the disease.  (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)