The Provincial Government of Davao Oriental welcomes the arrival of the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines today, March 8, 2021.

600 vials of Sinovac single-dose vaccines from the Department of Health (DOH) have arrived from Davao City earlier this morning. These were formally received by Governor Nelson Dayanghirang and Provincial Task Force on COVID-19 Action Officer Dr. Reden Bersaldo at the Davao Oriental Provincial Medical Center (DOPMC).

Intended for the health workers of DOPMC and St. Camillus Hospital, the first batch of vaccines will be given to 412 health workers who have signified their intent to be inoculated during the upcoming COVID-19 vaccine rollout in the province on Wednesday, March 10.

The excess vaccines will be given to the staff of Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facility (TTMF) in Local Government Units with the highest number of COVID-19 cases. In the province, the City of Mati and the municipality of Lupon are considered the highest priority considering that these are the LGUs with the most number of COVID-19 cases.

With the upcoming vaccination rollout, Dr. Reden Bersaldo said that the province is already in the thick of the preparation. The DOPMC which will serve as the vaccination post has already been set by the Vaccination Operations Center (VOC) team.

The vaccination rollout is expected to last up to six days with a maximum of 100 individuals to be inoculated per day.

As for the rest of the Davao Oriental population, the provincial government has allocated P60 million funding for the purchase of vaccines. This is on top of the allocation of each of the component Local Government Units. “The vaccination rollout is a concerted effort among all LGUs,” said Governor Dayanghirang.

The province of the Davao Oriental has a population of around 600,000, of which 200,000 belong to the priority group. The province targets around 400,000 people to be inoculated. As per the national guidelines, at least 70% of the total population is targeted to be vaccinated. PIO