BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Mobile vaccination for senior citizens in Negros Occidental is being eyed, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said yesterday.
The inoculation of senior citizens is being given priority by the provincial government of Negros Occidental, after it noted a low turnout of vaccinees in the A2 category, or senior citizens.
Lacson admitted that senior citizens, especially those outside urban centers, are having a hard time going to vaccination centers.
The possibility of having mobile vaccination and how to cluster senior citizens in one area is now being explored, he added.
The senior citizens are being given priority in the inoculation with Moderna vaccines, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said.
Manapla Mayor Manolet Escalante also said they already started a mobile vaccination rollout, with the hinterland barangay of San Pablo as pilot area.
On Tuesday, Negros Occidental and the highly-urbanized Bacolod City received another shipment of 20,000 doses of Sinovac vaccine and 4,200 doses of AstraZeneca purchased by the provincial and city governments from the British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company.
Diaz said the provincial government got 10,000 doses of Sinovac and 600 doses of AstraZeneca, while Bacolod City got P10,000 doses of Sinovac and 3,600 doses of AstraZeneca.
Lacson said there is no assurance yet on how many more doses of AstraZeneca will be delivered to the province, as of this time.
The provincial government purchased 100,000 doses of AstraZeneca, with those in the A4 category, or the economic frontliners, given preferential treatment.*