Vigan City vax rollout surpasses target herd immunity vs COVID

LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte—Ilocos Sur’s capital city of Vigan had surpassed its target to achieve herd immunity against COVID-19 as it vaccinated over 100 percent of its intended population, latest data from the city government showed.

Vigan City, with at least 56,000 residents, has 40,094 fully vaccinated individuals against the virus, covering 101.79 percent of the 39,388 of its target population to achieve herd immunity.

“This means we have reached herd immunity in the city,” the local government said in a statement Saturday.

Same data showed that at least 45,180 residents, or 114.70 percent of the target population received at least one dose of the vaccines.

From March 5 to December 6, Vigan City had administered at least 84,065 doses of COVID-19 vaccines.

In achieving herd immunity, the city government purchased its own vaccine supplies allowing them to continue their inoculation drive unhampered by the limited number of deliveries from the national government early this year.

The city government also said that they had prioritized the hiring of additional health workers to speed up the vaccination process. It also beefed up its public communications regarding the city’s vaccination program to entice more residents to get inoculated.

In the entire Ilocos Sur, at least 95.67 percent of its 504,179 target population had received at least one dose of the vaccines while 66.35-percent were already fully vaccinated, according to the latest data from the regional Department of Health (DOH).

At least 21,853 individuals would still need to get their first dose of the vaccines, the DOH said.

JPV