Gov. Albert Garcia
BALANGA CITY – The Bataan provincial government is aspiring to reach herd immunity on the coronavirus disease before the end of the year. But this depends on the availability of vaccines from the national government.
Gov. Albert Garcia on Monday said the province is ready for mass vaccination. It has already five operational vaccination centers and 10 more are being readied to speed-up the inoculation process against the coronavirus disease.
Already operational are vaccination centers in the towns of Dinalupihan, Limay, and Mariveles and the Bataan People’s Center and Lou-is Resort in Balanga City.
Being readied are inoculation centers in the towns of Hermosa, Orani, Samal, Abucay, Pilar, Orion, Bagac, and Morong and the Freeport Area of Bataan in Mariveles and from the private sector.
“Ang target natin, sabay-sabay mag-operate. Kung makapagbakuna tayo ng 5,000 to 10,000 sa isang araw ay tapos tayo sa target natin na herd immunity before the end of the year kung mayroong sapat na supply ng bakuna,” the governor said.
He said that they have requested the Department of Health to share the province with more vaccines because of its available facilities that can accommodate more people.
Garcia reported that more than 14,000 have so far been vaccinated among medical and non-medical frontliners and senior citizens.
“Senior citizens na ang binabakunahan at hopefully sa buwang ito ay mga may morbidity at economic frontliners na ang kasunod kapag may supply na ng bakuna,” the governor said.
He noted that vaccination for the second dose has started depending on the brand of vaccines first administered: “Ang second dose ay depende sa bakuna. Ang iba ay nakapag second dose na especially ang mga nauna na binakunahan ng Sinovac gaya ng mga medical workers sa Bataan General Hospital and Medical Center. Ang iba na AstraZeneca ibinakuna ay maghihintay pa.”
He said that a big percentage of healthcare workers and medical frontliners being infected is understandable because they are exposed to the virus.
“Pero ang mga na–infect dahil nakipag-inuman, namasyal, nahawa dahil hindi sumusunod sa mga health protocols ay dapat naiiwasan na kung dinidisiplina lang ang sarili,” he lamented.
“Nakikiusap ako sa inyong lahat, sa ating mga kababayan na alang-alang sa kaligtasan natin, ng mga mahal sa buhay at ating bayan ay sundin sana ang mga health protocols para bumaba na ang infection at makaginhawa na ang ating mga healthcare workers na ngayon ay hirap na hirap na,” Garcia appealed.
He asked authorized persons outside residence working at the NCR+ Bubble when coming home in Bataan to use face mask even inside their houses and sanitize.
“Ang daming APOR na kapag umuwi ay nahahawa ang pamilya not knowing na asymptomatic na sila o dala-dala na nila ang virus,” the governor said.
