Navy transports vaccines to 2 Tawi-Tawi remote towns
THE Naval Forces Western Mindanao (NFWM) assisted the Department of Health (DOH) to ensure that even those in remotest areas will not be left out in the government’s vaccination program.
The NFWM, through the Naval Task Force 61, successfully transported Sunday, December 19, a group of medical personnel along with coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines for the people of Turtle Islands and Mapun municipalities in Tawi-Tawi.
“It is in line with the government’s effort to provide vaccines to its people as far as the islands that lie within the territory of the Philippines,” the NFWM said.
The Turtle Islands is a fifth-class municipality in the province of Tawi-Tawi. It has a population of 5,683 as of the 2020 census. It is located within the Sulu Sea at the south-western tip of the country, at the edge of the international treaty limits separating the Philippines and Malaysia.
Mapun is a fourth-class municipality in the province of Tawi-Tawi with a population of 30,038 as of the 2020 census. It is formerly known as Cagayan de Sulu until 1984, then as Cagayan de Tawi-Tawi until 1988.
Mapun is located in the Sulu Sea on the south-western extreme of the Philippines, located very close to Sabah, as well as to Palawan.
The vaccines that were transported include 1,780 doses of Sinovac vaccines and 760 doses of children’s immunization vaccine.
The vaccines were transported from Bongao, the capital of Tawi-Tawi to the two remotest towns, aboard BRP-Andres Bonifacio (PS17), which is under the operational control of the Naval Task Force 61.
The vaccines arrived in the two island towns just in time for the second round of the National Vaccination Days from December 20 to December 22.
“Your Nay in the Western Mindanao is committed to extend assistance to the local governments of ZamBaSulTa (Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi) in pursuit of peace and development in the region, especially in this time of pandemic,” Adaci said. (SunStar Zamboanga)
