By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
The coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19, vaccination rollout for the A4 and A5 priority groups in Negros Occidental currently remains uncertain even though the city government of Bacolod had already received a go-signal to start vaccinating the said priority groups.
Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said it may take awhile before they could start vaccinating those under the A4 category or those tagged as frontline economic workers and A5 or those belonging to the indigent population in the province.
He pointed out a large group of individuals under the A1 (frontline health care workers), A2 (senior citizens), and A3 (persons with comorbidities) in Negros Occidental have yet to be vaccinated and because it was difficult for them to justify moving up to the A4 and A5 category.
Diaz believes that they may only be able to start vaccinating individuals under the A4 category as soon as they vaccinate at least 70 percent of those belonging under the A1, A2, and A3 categories.
The provincial administrator also said a lot of individuals under the A4 category in the province are willing to get the vaccine as they are afraid of getting seriously ill with COVID-19.
Meanwhile, Bacolod City Administrator Em Ang confirmed that they have received permission from the national government to start vaccinating those under the A4 and A5 categories in the city.
However, Ang said the vaccination of those under the said groups will depend on the availability of the vaccines.
She also pointed out that those under A1, A2, and A3 categories will remain a priority even though they are now allowed to vaccinate those under A4 and A5 categories.
As of July 6, Bacolod City has already administered 71,972 doses of COVID-19 vaccines with 59,945 receiving the first dose and 12,027 receiving the second dose.
Data released by the provincial government of Negros Occidental as of July 2, meanwhile, reported that 101,553 doses of vaccines have already been administered in the province, of which 82,376 received their first dose./DGB, WDJ