ILOILO CITY — To reach herd immunity, at least 1.45 million people in Iloilo province has to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
With this, Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. said the Iloilo provincial government is targeting to vaccinate at least 35,000 people daily.
As of October 19, at least 31 percent of the projected 1.45 million residents have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. That is at a total of 323,118 residents.
Defensor said the Iloilo Provincial Health Office (IPHO) is working closely with local government units (LGUs) in the 42 towns and component city of Passi to boost the number of persons being vaccinated daily.
For heavily populated towns, at least 1,000 people should be vaccinated daily while 700 people for towns with smaller populations.
One of the key challenges for the LGUs is to convince local residents to get the COVID-19 vaccine since there are still those who are not amenable.
Meanwhile, IPHO is also coordinating with the 43 LGUs for pre-registration for vaccination among children and the youth.
Defensor also added that if the national government allows booster COVID-19 shots, then he would request that the medical and other frontline workers should be prioritized.