The Province of Davao Oriental has achieved the lowest number of active cases of COVID-19 in the Davao Region, as declared during the last quarterly meeting of the Provincial Health Board (PHB) today, November 9, at Honey’s Hotel, City of Mati.
Davao Oriental currently has only 61 active cases remaining as a result of the collaborative efforts of the Provincial Government through the engagement of Local Chief Executives (LCEs) in all the vaccination campaigns spearheaded by the Provincial Health Office (PHO) and the Provincial Department of Health Office (PDOHO).
During the meeting, the PHO reported the intensive province-wide vaccination rollouts, the ongoing vaccination to the pediatric population, aged 12-17, and the Nagkakaisang Lingkod Bayan ng Davao Oriental Barangay Outreach Caravan (NLD-BOC) have greatly helped in the Province’s campaign against COVID-19.
Governor Nelson L. Dayanghirang, who led today’s meeting with the Municipal Mayors of every Local Government Unit (LGU) in the Province and other members and concerned agencies of the PHB, emphasized the need to sustain and further boost the Province’s efforts against the dreaded disease.
The PHB agreed to strengthen the vaccination further to achieve herd immunity by the end of 2021. Currently, the Province is at 39.34% in terms of the overall total percentage of inoculated individuals.
Also presented was the proposed strategy in enhancing the vaccination campaign by compelling the public to get vaccinated. However, this controversial strategy will be subject to further legal reviews.
Governor Dayanghirang clarified that the Province would not violate the rights of the people; however, he said it needs to be active in the vaccination efforts. “We will not wait to see a mandate or law to force everyone to get vaccinated,” said the Governor as he encouraged all LGU to do its best to boost its vaccination efforts since it is for the welfare of the people that the government prioritizes.
Meanwhile, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) presented features of the proposed Vaccination Certificate for vaccinated individuals, purposely to determine people’s vaccination status.
Aside from Covid-19 concerns, the Memorandum of Agreement of the Universal Health Care and the adoption of other programs were also presented and discussed to the body to provide and secure better services to other health-related issues. | By Mark Oliver Alvite
