Negros Occidental has fully vaccinated 71 percent of its target population against COVID-19, but acceptance among senior citizens is still low, Dr. Ernell Tumimbang, Provincial Health Officer, said Wednesday, April 27.
Only 54 percent of their target senior citizens have been fully vaccinated, Tumimbang said.
During the special vaccination days from April 20 to 22 only 9,867 of the 38,297 target residents in Negros Occidental were vaccinated, he added.
“We still have a long way to go,” Tumimbang said.
There is still vaccine hesitancy among the elderly, which is sometimes supported by their children who argue that they do not go out anyway, Tumimbang said.
However, their children should remember that even if they are fully vaccinated they can still be infected with COVID-19 and pass on the virus to their highly vulnerable unvaccinated elderly relatives, he added.
He said among the reasons for the hesitancy is the lack of COVID-19 vaccine advocacy in some areas, the difficulty of the elderly to go to vaccination centers, and false information being spread by anti-vaccination groups.
Aside from house-to-house vaccination drives, he said the provincial government has provided incentives, including additional Negros Occidental Comprehensive Health Program cards for the elderly.
“We are doing everything we can but the vaccination acceptance is very slowly increasing,” he said.
Second booster shots are also now being administered three months after the first booster shot for high risk individuals, he said.
OCTA Research warned on Wednesday that new COVID-19 cases in the Philippines may reach up to 10,000 a day once new Omicron subvariants enter the country.*