A public school teacher receives a jab during COVID-19 vaccination drive. | file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Health officials here are reiterating their calls for local governments to further intensify their COVID-19 vaccination drives if they want to downgrade to the most lenient community quarantine classification.
Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, chief pathologist of the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7), said increasing COVID-19 vaccination coverage rates is key for localities to shift to Alert Level 1.
In turn, Loreche urged local governments here to ramp up their vaccination campaigns. She also called for the public, particularly unvaccinated individuals, to get the jab.
“You can say that there is a need to ramp up the vaccination (but) the LGUs (local government units) have done what they could… Giving of incentives, having the purok-level (vaccination drives), going house to house,” said Loreche.
“We really call on our countrymen for their patriotic duty to help,” she added.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF) has recommended to maintain the Alert Level 1 status in the tricities of Cebu, Lapu-Lapu, and Mandaue.
The rest of Cebu, excluding at least six towns, remain under a stricter Alert Level 2.
The national government’s anti-COVID task force decided to put the towns of Alcoy, Borbon, Oslob, Pilar, Santander and Tudela under Alert Level 1 starting May 16 until May 31.
/bmjo
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