DAVAO ORIENTAL — With the goal of increasing the province’s vaccine coverage, the Provincial Health Office of Davao Oriental, headed by Dr. Reden V. Bersaldo, in partnership with the vaccinators of the comprising Local Government Units, conducted special vaccination days last March 29-31, 2022 as mandated by the National Vaccination Operations Center through the Department of Health.

During the said SVD, a total of 6,643 people or 111.6% of the initial target were inoculated, surpassing all of the other provinces in Region XI. This was made possible due to the collaborative efforts of the vaccinators in each LGU, who identified three barangays with the least number of people vaccinated in their locality. Since the whole country has reached an inflection point where a drop in daily vaccination has been observed, a shift to mobile and house-to-house jabs was needed to seek and vaccinate the remaining eligible population.

Boston, Caraga, Lupon, City of Mati, and Governor Generoso exceeded their target after inoculating 4,299 people or 155.1% of the 3,078 target. 

“We see a drop in the number of COVID cases and this can primarily be attributed to vaccination. Comparably, the effects of the government’s vaccination program have visibly made a positive impact not just on the country’s economy but more importantly, on the daily life of every Filipino citizen. With the COVID restrictions starting to loosen up, continued compliance to minimum health standards such as wearing face mask is still essential to keep the virus away,” said Dr. Bersaldo. | By Rezmarquel Pann