The municipality of Pateros in the National Capital Region (NCR) has achieved herd immunity against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Data provided by Vice Mayor Gerald German and the office of Pateros Mayor Miguel “Ike” Ponce II showed that as of Nov. 3, a total of 61,092 individuals have been fully vaccinated, or 109 percent of the target population of 56,000 for the vaccination.
The target population of 56,000 is 80 percent of the 70,000 estimated population of Pateros. Ponce previously announced that the municipal government increased its target population from 70 to 80 percent to vaccinate more people. The national government set the target population for herd immunity at 70 percent.
In addition, the Pateros municipal government has vaccinated 64,061 individuals with the first dose, or 114.4 percent of the target population.
The first-dose recipients are composed of 63,910 adults and 151 minors aged 12 to 17 years old. Pateros started vaccinating minors with comorbidities on Nov. 3.
Herd immunity, or population immunity, "is the indirect protection from an infectious disease that happens when a population is immune either through vaccination or immunity developed through previous infection," according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
"WHO supports achieving 'herd immunity' through vaccination, not by allowing a disease to spread through any segment of the population, as this would result in unnecessary cases and deaths," according to the WHO website.
During the “Laging Handa” public briefing on Nov. 3, Ponce announced that Pateros has achieved herd immunity while discussing the curfew for minors and easing of rules during the Christmas season.
He said minors will be allowed to go out from midnight to 4 a.m. as long as they are accompanied by their parents.
Ponce said rules may be eased during the Christmas season as more people have been vaccinated including in Pateros where herd immunity has been achieved.
“Ngayon, pagdating doon sa mga ibang ginagawa naman natin, nakasanayan nating ginagawa sa tuwing panahon ng Kapaskuhan, palagay ko mas magiging maluwag naman tayo ‘no kaysa doon sa ginawa natin last year dahil nakita naman din iyong difference ngayon dahil bakunado na nga iyong mga tao at dito nga sa aming bayan ay naabot na rin namin iyong herd immunity, oo, dahil sa dami ng nabakunahan natin (When it comes to other things, things that we used to do during Christmas season, I think we will be more relaxed compared to what we did last year because we saw the difference now as people are vaccinated and here in our town, we already achieved herd immunity due to many people that we have vaccinated),” he said.
The mayor said the Pateros municipal government is also vaccinating non-residents to help other local government units in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.
As of Nov. 3, Pateros has 74 active COVID-19 cases including 44 new cases out of 7,800 confirmed cases. It also logged 7,622 recoveries and 100 deaths.