WHO urges Iloilo province to strengthen COVID-19 vaccination for elderly (Sabong News)
Author
Tara Yap
Date
MARCH 07 2022
ILOILO CITY—The World Health Organization (WHO Philippines) is urging the provincial government of Iloilo to push the COVID-19 vaccination for the elderly.
This, after WHO Philippines ranked Iloilo province eighth with the most number of unvaccinated senior citizens at more than 71,000.
“There’s a need to fill that gap [senior citizens],” said Dr. Achyut Shrestha of WHO-Philippines during a meeting with Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. and Dr. Ma. Socorro Colmenares-Quiñon, chief provincial health officer.
According to Shrestha, the COVID-19 vaccination for senior citizens in the 42 towns and component city here became stagnant after a good start during last year’s initial rollout.
While almost 65 percent or more than one million people are fully vaccinated, Defensor said that the high hesitancy among the elderly is still a hindrance to the government’s target.
Quiñon added that unvaccinated senior citizens remain a priority. She noted that the elderly make up 68 percent of the 1,248 COVID-19 deaths recorded in Iloilo province since the pandemic began in 2020.
WHO Philippines reiterated its recommendations to make vaccination more accessible to senior citizens including going house-to-house especially for the bed-ridden.
The provincial government assured it will step up the campaign as it already started the village-based COVID-19 vaccinations.
As of March 6, almost 147,000 senior citizens have been fully vaccinated.
