DAGUPAN CITY –– This city has the highest number of medical frontliners vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) among the local governments in the Ilocos region.
Mayor Brian Lim said on April 12 that 6,326 of 7,399 medical frontliners in the city had been given the first dose of either Sinovac or AstraZeneca.
A total of 1,325 had been given the second dose.
The number represents 85.5 percent of all the medical frontliners listed in the city’s private and public hospitals, birthing homes, and other medical establishments.
Lim had asked for additional doses from Val Lopez, regional director of the Department of Health (DOH), as the remaining 1,000 vials of Sinovac would be used up by Wednesday, April 14.
The mayor said the city has an available storage capacity for 18,500 vials of vaccines and those that need either biorefrigeration (medical-grade refrigerators) or regular refrigeration.
The city has been vaccinating senior citizens and government workers.
Lim and his mother, Councilor Celia Lim, have received their first dose of the vaccine as a government worker and senior citizen, respectively.
Pangasinan province had vaccinated 11,240 of the 20,496 medical frontliners with the first dose while 348 had received the second dose.
Provincial Health Officer Ana de Guzman said local governments could not go on massive vaccination because the province is dependent on the DOH allocation.
Four towns–Aguilar, Urbiztondo, Manaoag, and Burgos–have yet to start the vaccination as of April 12.