Mt Province Covid jab rate up; elders give way to young

By Gina Dizon

BONTOC, Mountaiun Province --- This province under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) registered a high 119 percent vaccination rate among those with comorbidities belonging to the A3 priority coverage in 10 towns. 

This, as some elders told health workers to vaccinate the young instead and in place of them considering inadequacy or lack of vaccines.  
    With 11,665 fully-vaccinated persons with comorbidities, the performance rate exceeded 9,782 targeted A3 persons based from data released by the Provincial Health Office as of August 16.
    Among the highest vaccinated 100% plus coverage rate in the A3 category were from Bontoc with 2,678 followed by Bauko with 2425, Tadian with 1641, Paracelis with 1,358  followed closely by Sagada with  1,327 persons.
    Three towns however registered below 100 percent vaccination rate with Sadanga having registered the lowest at 19.9 percent with 111 persons, Natonin at 50.6 percent with 329 persons, and the highly populated town of Paracelis at 76 percent with 1358 persons injected.
    Among vaccines Sinovac, AstraZeneca and Janssen, the latter showed a high number of 8,966 vaccinated persons representing 76.8 percent of the three vaccines injected in the A3 category.

Most of those injected with Janssen liked the vaccine as it was administered once unlike the others done with a first and second dose.   

Mayor Franklin Odsey relayed the need for Janssen vaccines to Secretary Salvador Panelo when he visited the town July 30 this year.

Sagada Mayor James Pooten Jr also relayed to Panelo the need for vaccines when the Secretary visited the town in July 30.

Provincial Health Officer 1 Dr Caroline Yawan said Mountain Province is at moderate risk so delivery is limited and so bulk vaccines are not delivered by the Department of Health.  

“At least 70-80 percent of the population is targeted to be vaccinate to reach herd immunity threshold,” Yawan added.

Mountain Province has a population of 158,200 as of year 2020 census.

Meantime, a common observation among the ten towns of this province noted that senior citizens are hesitant to get vaccinated with anti Covid vaccines registering a low vaccination rate.  

Data from the PHO noted that only 40.9 percent were vaccinated or only 6,031 senior citizens injected with the anti Covid vaccine among the targeted 14,699 elderly in the 10 towns of the Province.

Of the  vaccinated,  Sadanga registered  the highest  with 77 percent vaccinated   followed by Tadian with  58 percent,  Sabangan  with  57.68 percent, Besao with 50 percent,  and Bauko with  41 percent. 

Asked an elderly why she does not want to get vaccinated and said she does not want with any reason given...

Other senior citizens are afraid while another said, ‘I am already old and soon to leave this world. What is important is that the younger ones be the one to take the vaccine”.

A total of 7067 senior citizens from the province are yet to be vaccinated with the first dose.  

Vaccinated frontliner health workers in the A1 priority level registered  74.3 percent  injected among a  targeted  4,839 frontliners  with the highest in Bontoc at 95 percent  followed by  Bauko with 93 percent ,Sadanga with 93  percent, Besao with 84.9 percent , Sagada with 80.56 percent  injected; while the eastern towns of Natonin, Paracelis and  Barlig registered the lowest vaccination rate among frontliners at 42 percent, 47 percent and 56 percent respectively.

There are remaining 845 frontliners to be vaccinated with first dose in the A1 category.

Meantime those in the A4 category referring to frontline personnel in essential sectors including uniformed personnel have a target of 551 persons with only one person vaccinated.

Others in the priority sectors were not yet vaccinated.

The DOH listed the following in the priority sectors. A1: frontline workers in health facilities, A2: senior citizens, A3: persons with comorbidities, A4: frontline personnel in essential sectors including uniformed personnel, A5: indigent population, 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 indigenous people, B5: Overseas Filipino workers, B6: other remaining workforce, and C: rest of the Filipino population.