MANILA—The number of fully vaccinated senior citizens in the National Capital Region has reached 1,047,250 or 90.73 percent of the target, according to Department of Health-Metro Manila Center for Health Development regional chief Gloria Balboa.
She said about 5,067,530 NCR residents have received their first booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine as of September 23.
In a statement on Wednesday, Balboa said the tally is 50.17 percent of the fully vaccinated population in the region.
“This achievement would not have been possible without a collaborative effort among the DOH-MMCHD staff, the DOH-Central Office, the region’s health workforce and institutions, all the region’s 17 local government units as well as all partner stake holders such as national government agencies, nongovernment organizations, civil society organizations, religious groups, and the rest of the private sector,” she said.
As of September 26, more than 73 million Filipinos are fully vaccinated. Of the total count, around 6.8 million are senior citizens, 9.9 million are adolescents, and 5 million are children.
More than 19.2 million individuals have received their first booster dose and almost 2.8 million have received their second booster shot.
Meanwhile, the positivity rate —the number of people testing for Covid-19—in the NCR increased to 18.5 percent as of September 24 from last week’s 15.7 percent, the OCTA Research Group said Monday.
“This has already exceeded the positivity rate of 17.5 percent on August 5, 2022,” OCTA Research Group fellow Dr. Guido David said over Twitter.
NCR’s reproduction number, the number of individuals a case could infect, also increased from 1.21 (September 5) to 1.30 as of September 22.
“The NCR had 1,600 new Covid-19 cases on September 25, 2022 based on the date from DOH. This was higher than a peak of 1,502 new cases reported on August 7, 2022,” David said.
The one-week growth in the NCR increased to 25 percent as of September 25, almost double of the 13-percent rate on September 18.
The region’s health-care utilization rate for Covid-19 remained low at 36 percent.
In a televised public briefing, infectious disease expert Dr. Rontgene Solante said the rise in cases is brought about by the increased mobility in the region and people’s complacency in observing health protocols.
“Those who are admitted in hospitals are the elderly population ages 65 and above, partially vaccinated, and vaccinated with comorbidities,” he said.
Omicron subvariants only cause mild symptoms among members of the population who are not vulnerable, he added. PNA
Image credits: PNA