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New DOH Region 6 chief seeks to address vaccine hesitancy

Philippines

New DOH Region 6 chief seeks to address vaccine hesitancy

By Tara Yap

ILOILO CITY – As Western Visayas continues to curb the number of COVID-19 cases, the newly installed regional director of the Department of Health (DOH Region 6) is pushing to strengthen awareness campaigns to address vaccine hesitancy.

“We have to educate them by providing correct information on the benefits of the vaccine,” said DOH Region 6 Director Adriano Suba-an in an online press conference Monday, July 5.

Suba-an, who officially took office last July 1, started going around hospitals and other health facilities in the region to discuss strategies on the local level on how to step up the campaign in getting residents vaccinated.

Vaccination rollout started early March in the region comprised of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental as well as the highly urbanized cities of Iloilo and Bacolod.

However, local government units (LGUs) have expressed concern that certain portions of its populace refuse to get vaccinated.

Suba-an noted that Filipinos should learn from Israel where 90 percent of its population were vaccinated against COVID-19.

As of July 4, only 2.44 percent of the target 5.2 million people in Western Visayas have been vaccinated.

Dr. Marie Jocelyn Te, DOH Region 6 chief for infectious diseases, said that 126,857 persons have been fully vaccinated in the region.

There were 405,669 persons vaccinated with the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, 7.79 percent of DOH Region 6’s target.

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