Magalong Wants Jabs On 65 Years And Up Fast-tracked To Thwart Deaths

June 11, 2021 JUST IN

BAGUIO CITY (June 11, 2021) – Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, also the country’s contact tracing czar ordered the fast-tracking of vaccination of Baguio City residents aged 65 years and above to thwart more Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)-related deaths.
Seeking the assistance of barangay officials in tracking down residents belonging to said age group who have not been inoculated against the virus, Magalong explained that, barangay officials will help facilitate the registration of the elderly in the city’s online system as well as the scheduling of their vaccination in coordination with the City Health Services Office.
The mayor said the city has to step up efforts to curb the high incidence of death among its COVID-19 patients and pointed out vaccination as the solution.
The Dept. of Health has said all COVID-19 vaccines with Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) can prevent hospitalization and death.
Though City Health Services Officer Dr. Rowena Galpo said, the city’s fatality rate has decreased in the past week with only three deaths recorded.
“This is an improvement because in the past weeks, we were recording 2-3 deaths a day. Now it is three deaths in one week and for the past five days, we have had zero deaths which we hope to sustain,” Galpo said.
As of June 9, the city has a total of 268 deaths with 2.1 percent case fatality rate.
Last May 10, the city recorded its highest fatality rate at 2.09 percent with 247 deaths out of 11,814 cases.
Aside from vaccination, the mayor also advocated for early medical consultation at the first signs of COVID-19 infection among the residents as a deterrent to death.
He said early consultation would facilitate early detection and medical intervention and would prevent progression into severe stage and death.
City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (CESU) records showed more than half of the fatalities were aged 50 and above and that there were more males than females.
The highest number of deaths was recorded in the month of April with 85 deaths or more than two deaths per day. Majority had comorbid conditions.
Artemio A. Dumlao