By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Even though the utilization of COVID-19 vaccines is starting to pick up in Negros Occidental, the Provincial Health Office (PHO) is blaming the proliferation of “fake news” on social media as the reason why the public is still hesitant in getting vaccinated against COVID-19.

Dr. Jessica Fama, PHO Medical Specialist, said a lot of people are falling prey to the false information on vaccines being posted on social media platforms, and are also ill informed as to where the sources of the information have originated.

Fama appealed to the public that they should only believe information coming from legitimate sources, such as their office, the Department of Health (DOH) and the World Health Organization.

She is also calling on the public to be responsible in sharing fake news in order to avoid causing anxiety or misinformation to the public.

Earlier, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson affirmed the utilization of COVID-19 vaccines in the province is starting to pick up.

PHO data revealed by Lacson showed that they have already used over 90 percent of the CoronaVac vaccines made by Chinese biotech firm Sinovac and 43 percent of the British-made AstraZeneca vaccines they received from the DOH./DGB, WDJ