DOH CamSur cites Naga for vax drive

By Jason B. Neola

The Department of Health (DOH) confirmed on Monday, Dec. 6, that the Naga City government attained an 86 percent vaccination performance because of its expeditious handling of the vax campaign.

In a press briefing, Mayor Nelson Legacion said the news was relayed to him by Dr. Rey Millena, the DOH representative in Camarines Sur, who said that the city’s performance in terms of how many people vaccinated is above par as compared to that of other LGUs in the province or even in some parts of Bicol region.

As of Nov/ 30 this year, Naga which has 209,170 population was able to administer a total of 158,223 jabs, 89,048 (42.57%) of which are first dose and 69,175 (33.07%) represent those fully vaccinated.

Legacion, who informed DOH Assistant Secretary Nestor Santiago that the city is batting for to 90 percent herd immunity, said the figures are expected to dramatically increase by next week with the conduct of the 2nd National Vaccination Day, which is going to be held on Dec. 15-17.

The DOH is requiring LGUs to vaccinate at least 70 percent of their residents to be able to achieve herd immunity.

Herd immunity is achieved when enough members of a population are already vaccinated, preventing the virus from further spreading. It is a “continuous” protection from the virus, which may include booster shots, among other things, amid the presence of variants.

The mayor attributed the city’s good performance in vax program to the public-private collective efforts that gave way to the operationalization of vaccination sites in public and private schools, malls, covered courts in the barangays, and at the Naga City Mega Vaccination Center.

The city is consistently running a series of vax rollout for adults, which is simultaneously conducted with the school-based pediatric vaccinations in 14 vaccination sites.