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NegOr guv appeals for more vax amid spiraling Covid-19 cases

By Mary Judaline Partlow

June 4, 2021, 7:48 pm

<p><strong>VAX JAB</strong>. A health worker administers on Thursday (June 3, 2021) the Covid-19 vaccine to a resident in Dumaguete City. Local government units in Negros Oriental have now moved to priority sector A2 covering the senior citizens in the government’s inoculation rollout. <em>(Photo from the Lupad Dumaguete's Facebook page)</em></p>

VAX JAB. A health worker administers on Thursday (June 3, 2021) the Covid-19 vaccine to a resident in Dumaguete City. Local government units in Negros Oriental have now moved to priority sector A2 covering the senior citizens in the government’s inoculation rollout. (Photo from the Lupad Dumaguete's Facebook page)

DUMAGUETE CITY – Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo is urging the national government through the Department of Health in Region 7 (DOH-7) to fast-track the delivery of additional vaccines amid the continuing surge in coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases in the province.

Assistant Provincial Health Officer Dr. Liland Estacion, Covid-19 incident commander of the province’s Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), in a virtual press briefing Friday afternoon, said that the province has not received a fresh supply of vaccines.

“Gov. Degamo has already allocated money for the procurement of vaccines, however, right now we are not allowed to purchase these. So we have to rely on the government to provide us with our requirements for the inoculation rollout,” Estacion said in a mix of English and Cebuano.

She said she called the DOH-7 but failed to contact regional director Dr. Jaime Bernadas. However, she added that she received information from a reliable source at the national level that there is an allocation of 10,000 doses for the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital and Dumaguete City.

No other details were made available as to when these vaccines will be delivered, Estacion said.

As of June 4, records at the Provincial Health Office show that a total of 11,455 front-liners have received the first dose of vaccines while 6,436 were given the second dose.

For senior citizens, 4,070 were administered the first dose while 110 received the second dose.

Negros Oriental has so far received 36,664 doses and is already running low on supply as the remainder of the jabs is reserved for the second dose of those already inoculated with the first dose.

The need for additional vaccines came as Estacion reported 429 new positive Covid-19 cases covering the period May 31 to June 3.

She said this is now the result of the ongoing massive swab testing of first-generation contacts of Covid-19 patients in this capital city and other parts of the province.

The total caseload of Negros Oriental as of June 4 is 4,958, broken down into 3,291 recoveries, 1,572 active positive cases, and 95 mortalities. (PNA)

 

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