The Davao City COVID-19 Task Force reiterated the need for Dabawenyos to get themselves vaccinated and boostered after the city recorded three unvaccinated deaths from May 22 to 28, 2022.
Dr. Michelle Schlosser, the spokesperson of the Davao City COVID-19 Task Force, said, “We’re very fortunate kasi for three consecutive days, zero atong cases and then we have one pero namatay sya because of the lack of vaccine. Actually, we had three deaths from May 22 to 28 and all of them are unvaccinated. Sayang gyud kaayo ilang kinabuhi kay puros gyud sila unvaccinated (We’re very fortunate that for three consecutive days, we have zero cases and then we had one death because of the lack of vaccine. Actually, we had three deaths from May 22 to 28 and all of them are unvaccinated. It’s such a waste of life since they are unvaccinated).”
Two of the three who succumbed to COVID-19 were seniors while the other one was an adult. They all suffered from the severe type of COVID-19 and since they were unvaccinated, they were not protected from the severity of the disease.
She underscored the importance of the anti-COVID-19 vaccine since contracting the disease is inevitable now that the city had been placed under alert level one status for over two months now; no restrictions on interzonal and intrazonal travel; and all establishments and offices are fully operational and in full capacity status.
The city health official said Dabawenyos have no choice but to protect themselves through vaccination and booster jabs since they have to go out to work, study, do business, and access necessities and services.
“We have to get ourselves vaccinated gyud. Kinahanglan gyud ta magpabooster kay based on studies, after six months mag-wane down gyud ang mga vaccines, dili lang COVID-19 maski ang mga routine vaccines (We have to get ourselves vaccinated. We also need the booster shots since studies show that after six months, the vaccine would wane, not just the COVID-19 vaccine but also other routine vaccines),” Dr. Schlosser added.
As of June 1, 2022, she said there is a slight increase in cases after the city logged nine confirmed COVID-19 positive cases, which is equivalent to two percent positivity rate.
Despite the days with zero COVID-19 cases, Dr. Schlosser said Dabawenyos still need to be vigilant in protecting themselves amid the several Omicron subvariants that have entered the country.
She added, “For us to protect ourselves, we must wear our face masks para dili nato makuha o wala’y high risk of transmission of the disease. Pero since dili nato makit-an atong kalaban, matanggal man gihapon nato ang atong mask, there is a need to get the vaccine (For us to protect ourselves, we must wear our face masks so that we won’t get infected or to eliminate the high risk of transmission of the disease. But since we can’t see our enemy and we sometimes take off our masks, there is a need to get the vaccine). Let us not be like the three who died of COVID-19 without even a good fight because they have no protection against the severity of the disease.”
She also cited the case of some seniors with comorbidities who had a severe type of COVID-19 but they survived because they were fully vaccinated and received booster shots.
From 1,331,671 as of May 20, 2022, the city’s first dose vaccinees reached 1,333,259 as of May 27, which is 87.08 percent of the 80.67 percent target of the total population. For the second dose, it slightly increased from 1,313,705 on May 20 to 1,315,112 as of May 27 (85.90 percent of the 80.67 percent target of the total population).
However, of the 1,315,112 fully vaccinated individuals, only 262,490 received their first booster vaccines. At least 12,891 or 4.91 percent of whom got their second booster shots.
Check out the operational vaccination site near you at https://www.facebook.com/davaocitygov/posts/154236653784916. CIO
