Iloilo merges COVID-19 vax, nutrition programs
PROTECTED Residents of Barangay M.V. Hechanova in Jaro District in Iloilo City get their COVID-19 vaccine shots at their village on Sept. 7. —PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ILOILO CITY MAYOR’S OFFICE
ILOILO CITY—Iloilo has launched a project that will combine its COVID-19 vaccination and nutrition programs.
Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. on Saturday issued Executive Order 307 creating “Project Nutrivac,” which aimed to increase the vaccination coverage of the province towards economic recovery; promote family nutrition, and strengthen the public’s health against COVID-19, and incentivize vaccination to increase vaccine uptake.
Nutrivac packs will be given to families with underweight children, indigent families, and those who will avail themselves of COVID-19 vaccination.
The province launched Monday Project Nutrivac: Nutrition and Vaccination Towards a New Normal at the capitol lobby.
During the event, Defensor said he wanted to sustain the provincial government’s intensive measures and frontline strategy on vaccination.
“Through Project Nutrivac, we can pursue and implement the issuances of the Department of Health on nutrition and at the same on COVID-19. Let us combine our nutrition program with our vaccination program,” the governor said.
“As we celebrate Nutrition Month with the Department of Health and National Nutrition Council, we also take this opportunity to integrate our vaccination program,” he added.
As of Monday, 74 percent of the 1.68 million eligible population had been vaccinated fully. Only 225,019 or 13 percent have availed themselves of a booster dose, the provincial government said.
On the other hand, data on malnutrition showed that 2,552 children aged 0 to 5 years old (1.58 percent) were wasted or too thin for height, while 12,016 (7.46 percent) were too short for age.
Reginaldo Guillen, coordinator of the National Nutrition Council Regional Nutrition Program, was elated with the province’s program to address malnutrition and COVID-19.
