DILG-led vax drives administer close to 2M doses: Año

MANILA – Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año on Monday said 1,934,807 doses of Covid-19 vaccine were administered to unvaccinated or those with incomplete doses during their house-to-house vaccination campaign.

During President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s Talk to the People Monday night, Año reported that 811 cities and municipalities conducted the house-to-house vaccination with 784,548 given primary dose, 792,498 vaccinated with the second dose, 350,237 administered with the first booster shot and 7,524 getting the second booster dose as of May 22.

The top three regions were Region 13 (Caraga) with 477,657 vaccinated individuals; Region 3 (Central Luzon) — 421,138 doses; and Region 11 (Davao Region) — 246,249 doses.

Earlier, Año directed all local government units (LGUs) to scour their areas and convince the unvaccinated and those eligible to get Covid-19 booster shots.

Año issued the directive as the Omicron BA.4 subvariant has now entered the country putting the public’s health at grave danger.

He added the Omicron BA.4 subvariant poses a threat to public health as it can evade immune protection from vaccination and prior infection.

Año said LGUs must maximize its resources in convincing the unvaccinated and booster-eligible population to get vaccinated “as a precautionary measure versus a more transmissible Omicron variant and possible community transmission.”

“We direct all LGUs to be proactive in its vaccination efforts and seek these people who are eligible for inoculation. The Department of Health’s (DOH) detection of BA.4 signals the need for a more aggressive action to ensure that the people are vaccinated and protected against this highly contagious variant of Covid-19,” he said.

With regards to the recorded community health protocol offenses, Año said 40,335 individuals violated the wearing face mask requirement from May 11 to 22, 26.76 percent higher compared to the previous month.

The DILG also recorded 2,180 violators of the physical distancing regulation while one violated the mass gathering limit.

Under the government’s drug war campaign, Año said anti-narcotics authorities arrested 1,796 drug personalities with no reported fatalities in 1,556 operations.

The authorities also confiscated 96.26 kilograms of shabu and 40.92 kg of marijuana with a total amount of PHP295.96 million from May 11 to 22.