Pampanga’s capital starts village-based vaccine drive as COVID-19 cases soar

A resident of the City of San Fernando in Pampanga province gets vaccinated against COVID-19 via the village-based vaccination program. (Photo courtesy of the City of San Fernando government)

MABALACAT CITY, Pampanga––The province’s capital City of San Fernando has intensified its vaccination campaign to stop the spike in COVID-19 cases there.

From Jan. 24 to 28, the city’s “barangay-based vaccination” activities will be held in covered courts, health centers, and large areas in different villages.

In an advisory on its social media page, the local government said only the first dose and booster shots would be administered in villages, while the second dose would be given at the Heroes Hall, Our Lady of Fatima University, Robinsons Starmills Pampanga, SM City Telabastagan, and Waltermart.

As of Tuesday, 214,874 residents comprising 60.6 percent of San Fernando’s 354,666 population, based on the 2020 census, had been inoculated fully against COVID-19, while 26,768 had yet to get their second doses.

The city government said 26,123 individuals had received their booster shots.

On Tuesday, the capital city registered 35 new cases, 88 recoveries, and zero deaths. Its active cases stood at 1,723, the highest among all 21 localities of the province, and the highly urbanized Angeles City, which has 945 active as of Tuesday.

Barangay Dolores has the most active cases at 244, followed by San Agustin (189), and Sindalan (135).

The city has recorded 13,782 since the pandemic began in 2020. Of this figure, 11,726 had recovered while 333 had died.

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