By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

A total of 1,723 personnel of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) have completed their vaccination against COVID-19.

NOCPPO director Police Colonel Romy Palgue said the 1,723 personnel are officers, non-commissioned officers and non-uniformed personnel.

Palgue said he personally received the one-dose Jansen COVID-19 made by Johnson & Johnson last August 18.

Other top officials who have also been vaccinated included NOCPPO Operations Chief Lt. Colonel Edison Garcia, who was inoculated with the two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine; and NOCPPO spokesperson Lt. Abegael Donasco, who was inoculated with the US-made Moderna vaccine.

Of the 2,245 total personnel of NOCPPO, Palgue said only 523 of their uniformed and non-uniformed personnel have not yet been vaccinated.

Palgue personally thanked Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson for facilitating the vaccination of the province’s police force against COVID-19.

As of August 23, NOCPPO has already recorded 211 COVID-19 cases among their personnel, of which two are currently active, and two were fatalities./DGB, WDJ