COVID vaccination in Bicol now at 73 percent; DOH pushes booster shot

Bicol region map

LIGAO CITY — The Department of Health’s Center for Health Development (DOH-CHD) in Bicol said vaccination efforts against COVID-19 in the region has reached seventy three percent of the 5,040,943 total population.

As of May 21, the province of Albay already has 77.1 percent vaccination rate, Camarines Norte recorded 67.4 percent, Camarines Sur had 74.7 percent, Catanduanes have obtained 84.8 percent, Masbate reached 62.5 percent and Sorsogon has a vaccination rate of 73.7 percent.

However, only 10 percent of the population have taken their booster shots.

Noemi Bron, officer-in-charge of the Health Promotion Unit of DOH-CHD Bicol, said in a text message to Inquirer Saturday that those who avoided or declined taking the booster shots “most of them have reasons like they are old already and will die very soon, not allowed in religion, no longer required in entering establishment and offices and many more.”

She said house to house vaccination events are still in progress to meet the targeted number of individuals for herd immunity.

“The public should take the booster in order to keep them protected from the new variant considering the effectiveness of first and second dose [could] wane down,” she added.

Since the start of the pandemic, 59,100 persons in the region were infected while 2,565 died because of
virus.

On Saturday, nine new COVID-19 cases were recorded, bringing the number of active cases in Bicol to 434.

JPV