Still unable to reach herd immunity, Cagayan de Oro City has been assured additional COVID-19 vaccine supplies by national vaccination czar Secretary Carlito Galvez.
Deputy Speaker and CDO 2nd District Rep.Rufus Rodriguez announced the welcome news as he thanked Galvez and Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje for acting favorably on his request for more vaccines for the city.
Rodriguez said the booster supply will be coursed through the National Vaccination Operations Center headed by Cabotaje.
“We expect delivery in the coming days. We need more vaccines in Cagayan de Oro to inoculate more people. We haven’t achieved herd immunity yet. Those who have completed their two doses need a booster shot amid the threat of omicron variant,” Rodriguez said.
“COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila are exponentially rising. Our cases in our city are also significantly going up,” he noted.
According to the House official, surge in Metro Manila cases affect other cities and provinces, as well.
“The booster vaccines could save lives and prevent people from getting hospitalized,” he said.
Cagayan de Oro logged 11, 16 and 26 Covid-19 cases on January 4, 5 and 6, respectively.
On January 7, it had 43 cases.
Last December 29, Rodriguez sent letters to Secretary Galvez and the Department of Health (DOH) asking for more booster Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to be administered to frontline medical workers, senior citizens, persons with commodities, and frontline personnel in essential sectors in Cagayan de Oro.
He said these constituents of his belong to the A1, A2 and A3 priority groups that were vaccinated in April or May, or eight month to nine months ago, with the Chinese-made Sinovac and the United Kingdom’s AstraZeneca, the first two vaccines available in country.
“Based on the DOH mix-and-match advisory, they could receive Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Pfizer or Moderna as booster. However, many of them would prefer Pfizer or Moderna,” he said.