Apayao town joins Baguio in hitting immunity target

A BIT OF CULTURE In this photo taken before the pandemic, Ifugao boys in their native attire play with wooden stilts to give visitors a glimpse of life in the Cordillera. Cultural tours organized in
the region by the Department of Tourism involve communities, with residents simulating rituals and other activities to educate visitors. —EV ESPIRITU

BAGUIO CITY — The town of Luna in Apayao province has reached its target for herd immunity, joining Baguio City as the other locality in the Cordillera region that has vaccinated more than 70 percent of their population against COVID-19, according to the regional pandemic response task force on Wednesday.

Luna, home to 21,297 people, has inoculated 75 percent of its eligible residents. The province of Apayao is about to reach half of its target with almost 47 percent (40,769) of 87,310 residents, or the targeted 70 percent of its 124,366 population, already fully inoculated.

According to the regional Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Baguio has achieved nearly 77 percent (201,807) as of Tuesday, although the city’s own tally showed its fully vaccinated residents represented 72.13 percent (202,708) of the population (366,358 as of the 2020 census).

Mayor Benjamin Magalong said his goal was to vaccinate 95 percent of the city’s residents by the end of this year, as it ramped up its immunization drive for minors 12 to 17 years old and the general population.

Not as fast

Baguio has reopened its borders to leisure travel in order to speed up economic recovery this year but still required negative swab test results for visitors, including fully vaccinated individuals.Other provinces in the Cordillera are not inoculating residents as fast as Luna and Baguio.

Benguet, including five towns surrounding Baguio, had vaccinated only 29.79 percent (100,909) of its eligible population. To achieve herd immunity, Benguet needs to vaccinate 338,754 of its 460,683 residents.

Abra (population: 250,985) had fully vaccinated 35.05 percent (60,964) of its residents, out of 173,928 who make up 70 percent of its population.

Mountain Province had tallied 41,328 fully vaccinated residents, or 37.51 percent of the targeted 110,189 people, while Kalinga had reached 33.93 percent (52,620) in its pursuit of herd immunity (155,094 residents, who make up 70 percent).

Ifugao (population: 208,498) has the lowest vaccination rate at 28.32 percent, or 42,035 residents out of 148,444 of its population representing 70 percent.

The Cordillera needs to inoculate 1,275,904 residents to reach its herd immunity target. As of Nov. 9, 540,432 (42.36 percent) had been fully vaccinated in the region.

Infections in the region, including Baguio, surged in September and October, peaking at 4,000 active cases. But it dropped to 2,458 cases as of Wednesday.

The region recorded 92,115 cases since the pandemic broke out last year, with the number of fatalities reaching 1,929. Baguio accounted for 29,673 cases and 686 deaths.

Magalong has been urging residents and tourists to maintain health protocols. But he asked the city council this week to consider relaxing or scrapping the mandatory use of face shields. —VINCENT CABREZA