BENGUET Province has hit the halfway point in reaching its imposed target vaccinated population for herd immunity, according to Benguet Provincial Department of Health (DOH) Officer Dr. Mercy Calpito.
While earlier figures in January indicated 53.24 percent vaccine coverage in the province of Benguet, as of February 5, the current vaccine coverage rate was only at 51.06 percent.
The discrepancy in numbers is due to the current vaccination target for Benguet including the pediatric population of individuals aged 12 to 17 in addition to the previous figures, which only accounted for adults.
The goals have also increased due to the inclusion of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)’s 2022 total projected population for the province, which accounts for population growth.
As of February 5, the targeted population was 391,371 individuals, 80 percent of the total population of the province, according to the latest available statistics. This is a significant increase from January’s figures, which only aimed for 338,754 individuals.
The current fully vaccinated population of Benguet is 199,847 individuals, according to Calpito.
With the current figures, Benguet would need to vaccinate around 190,000 more individuals to achieve herd immunity.
In terms of vaccination percentages, Benguet remains near the bottom of Cordillera statistics, with Baguio leading with more than 100 percent of its target population vaccinated, with only Ifugao around the same 50 percent mark as Benguet.
With the large gap between the vaccinated numbers and the target population, Calpito is calling on more Benguet residents to avail of vaccination, even past the third wave of the national vaccination days of “Bayanihan Bakunahan Part 3” that took place on February 10 and 11.
