Over 6,000 more senior citizens have been vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Iriga City, Camarines Sur through the Vaccine Express, an initiative jointly launched by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Iriga City government.
Vice President Leni Robredo said they concluded the IrigaVax Express, an offshoot of her Vaccine Express program, with the inoculation of 6,102 senior citizens in the city.
The IrigaVax Express initially aimed to vaccinate 5,000 seniors with Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose Janssen vaccine, but it exceeded its target after the two-day vaccination drive.
The vice president noted that a total of 543 volunteers, both medical and non-medical personnel, took part in the inoculation of the elderly in Iriga City.
READ: Robredo starts Vaccine Express for seniors in Iriga City
The Vaccine Express is the latest program of the OVP to help the national and local government in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“What was truly amazing in activities like this is the sense of communal responsibility,” Robredo said in a Facebook post Saturday night.
“When government works as center of gravity, a platform is made available for everyone who wants to pitch in and help,” she added.
The lady official personally visited the three cluster sites of the IrigaVax Express, among which are the San Isidro Gym Elementary School, Iriga Gym, and Sagrada Covered Courts.
The OVP and its partner local government units have been inoculating senior citizens or those in the A2 priority group amid the vaccine hesitancy among some of the elderly.
READ: 'Get vaccinated,' Roque tells seniors; 'spend time with your grandkids'
Before Iriga City, Robredo’s office brought this vaccination program in her hometown of Naga City, where senior citizens also received their COVID-19 vaccine doses.
To date, only 25 percent of this group have been fully vaccinated, WHO Philippines said, leaving 6.4 million of the elderly at increased risk of severe illness and death. Seven out of 10 deaths due to COVID-19 in the Philippines belong to this group.