Negros Occidental focuses on rehab efforts, vax drive

By Teresa D. Ellera

WITH southern Negros Occidental badly-hit by Typhoon Odette, the vaccination campaign against coronavirus disease (Covid-19) of the Provincial Government has continued to slow down, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson admitted Tuesday, December 28.

Lacson said the province’s focus right now is the rehabilitation of these calamity-hit areas, but he assured that the Provincial Government will continue its vaccination drive.

The Department of Health (DOH) reported that the province has vaccinated 1,077,505 residents with one dose or 59.03 percent of its target population and has fully vaccinated 672,774 or 36.86 percent.

It topped Western Visayas with the most number of unvaccinated persons with 747,865, the regional line agency also reported.

The DOH said Negros Occidental has the largest population in the region that needs to fully vaccinate 1.8 million residents or 70 percent of its 2.6 million to reach herd immunity.

Negrenses should continue to observe health protocols, Lacson said, to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

He cited reports that the National Capital Region’s positivity rate increased from 0.9 percent to three percent.

Whatever happens in NCR will eventually happen in the provinces, the governor said.