Vax rollout may have slowed down COVID surge in Davao City
DAVAO CITY – The Davao City COVID-19 Task Force is seeing signs the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) surge here is slowing down after rolling out a massive vaccination drive against the highly infectious virus.
Dr. Michelle Schlosser, task force spokesperson, said during COVID-19 Alert broadcast over Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR 87.5) on Monday that the anti-COVID-19 vaccination remains a big factor in stemming the spread of the infections in the communities.
“We have to celebrate little achievements like this because we’re seeing a lower positivity rate. The COVID-19 Task Forcing is enforcing strategies at the ground level... to ensure medical and safety protocols are implemented,” she said.
She said that vaccination plays an important part in the strategy of the local government to put the spread under control, apart from prevention, detection, isolation, treatment, and reintegration.
As of September 25, there were a total of 716,793 individuals who received the first dose and 583,002 for the second dose or 48.58 percent of the target 1.2 million to achieve herd immunity.
“Vaccination is a big factor. Data are showing that those infected individuals are actually those unvaccinated... It goes to show that if the people are vaccinated, there's a bigger chance that you get protected against COVID-19 and any other variants,” she added.
Mayor Sara Duterte told DCDR 87.5 last Monday that “Comorbidity Week 39,” covering the period between September 26 and October 2, recorded 1,253 cases.
Of whom, 809 were unvaccinated and 444 vaccinated, according to Duterte.
Schlosser said patients with breakthrough infections are either asymptomatic or have mild symptoms.
Data from the Department of Health (DOH)-Davao released Wednesday showed that the Davao region recorded 349 new cases out of 1,955 individuals tested, or a positivity rate 18% as of Tuesday.
Out of the new cases, 176 were reported in Davao City. This brought the total cases in the city to 50,743 as of Wednesday, with 7,000 active, 42,158 recovered, and 1,585 deaths.
She reminded the public to continue observing the health protocols and avoid mass gatherings.
“This is not intended to encourage the public to become complacent, and not to get vaccinated, not to follow health standards, avoid high risk areas, and conduct social gatherings,” she said.