The Provincial Health Office (PHO) said 32,000 doses of the single-shot Janssen vaccine were among the vaccines distributed to the city and the municipalities to supply their vaccination campaigns.
PHO chief Dr. Edward Tandingan expects the supply to boost the province’s vaccination coverage as it has been noted that a lot of residents prefer the single-dose Janssen to the two-dose brands.
The official, in his report during the recent local chief executives’ meeting, said the supply would easily cover the remaining 34,691 unvaccinated constituency for the province to achieve its goal of fully vaccinating its target population.
Dr. Tandingan specifically hopes the vaccines will increase vaccination rate among senior citizens, which remains the lowest among priority groups at 46.21 percent.
The threat of another surge due to the Omicron variant is heightening the urgency for the vaccination of seniors. “If they are not given additional protection, isuda ti mangpunnu kadagiti ospital,” Dr. Tandingan said.
As of January 3, 2022, Kalinga has fully vaccinated 69.78 percent or 108,228 of its target population of 155,095.
The municipality of Rizal records the highest vaccination rate at 115.77 percent followed by Balbalan, 83.08 percent; Pinukpuk, 76.09 percent; Tabuk City, 65.88 percent; and Pasil, 62.47 percent.
Meanwhile, the municipality of Lubuagan has vaccinated 52.09 percent of its target population; Tanudan, 49.32 percent; and Tinglayan, 46.76 percent.
