South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. (File photo courtesy of the provincial government)
GENERAL SANTOS CITY – Rural health units (RHUs) in South Cotabato have fast-tracked the rollout of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines among eligible residents as they gear up for its expansion to other priority groups.
South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. said Monday the vaccination activities in the province’s 10 towns and lone city have become faster in the past several days following the delivery of more vaccines from the national government.
He said they are expecting the arrival of more vaccine doses in the coming days to augment the 12,650 vials of Sinovac received by the province last week from the Department of Health-Region 12 (DOH-12).
As of Sunday, the DOH-12 said a total of 21,714 individuals in the province under priority groups A1 (frontline health care workers), A2 (senior citizens), and A3 (persons with comorbidities) were already inoculated against Covid-19.
Tamayo said some RHUs are now ready to expand the inoculation to the A4 category, which covers government and private employees, self-employed individuals, and other informal workers who are required to work outside their places of residence.
“We’re hoping that the vaccine delivery will now become faster so we can also start with its rollout in the other sectors,” he said in his radio program “Ang Gobernador kag ang Katawhan.”
The governor urged eligible individuals under the A1, A2, and A3 categories to take advantage of the increase in vaccine allocation and sign up for inoculation with their RHUs.
The vaccines being provided by the government are safe and could protect people from severe and critical Covid-19, he said.
“For those who still believe in fake news about vaccines, please do your own research. There are a lot of legitimate resources online that uphold the integrity of the available vaccines,” he said.
The governor, who tested positive for Covid-19 early this year, was inoculated last month with the AstraZeneca vaccine.
He said the disease can only be contained through vaccination and strict compliance to the non-pharmaceutical interventions.
As of Sunday night, South Cotabato has the highest number of active Covid-19 cases in Region 12 (Soccsksargen) with 1,434.
Its cumulative cases since last year already reached a total of 6,100, with 136 related deaths and 4,530 recoveries. (PNA)
