COVID-19 vaccination of seniors in Negros Occidental remains challenging – official

FILE PHOTO: A doctor prepares the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at the University Hospital in Bialystok, Poland, on January 4, 2021. In Negros Occidental, Philippines, the local government says vaccination of senior citizens against the coronavirus remains a big challenge. Agnieszka Sadowska/Agencja Gazeta via REUTERS

BACOLOD CITY — Convincing more senior citizens in Negros Occidental to get vaccinated against COVID-19 is an uphill battle.

Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz on Wednesday, June 22, said they targeted 15,000 senior citizens during their simultaneous province-wide mass vaccination drive this month but so far only 714 have been covered.

The provincial government is giving rice assistance to senior citizens who agree to be vaccinated, and financial incentives to barangay health workers who are able to convince more residents to get inoculated.

He said they will just keep on trying to convince more residents, especially senior citizens, to get vaccinated for their own protection.

“Their getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is voluntary, we cannot impose or compel them to do so,” he said.

Negros Occidental has only vaccinated 64.11 percent of its target population, making it the lowest performer in Western Visayas, the Department of Health (DOH) reported Monday.

The province has also only vaccinated 58.86 percent of its target senior citizen population, the DOH added.

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