THE BANGSAMORO Ministry of Health reported 93,874 doses of coronavirus vaccines administered on Monday, the first of the three-day nationwide mass vaccination campaign from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1.
In a statement posted on the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) government’s official Facebook page, the health ministry said they have set up 340 vaccination hubs across the region’s five provinces, with the highest at 237 in Maguindanao, which has the biggest population at over 1.34 million.
Lanao del Sur, including Marawi City, recorded the highest number of vaccinated at 54,639, followed by Sulu with 15,027. Maguindanao reported 10,812; Tawi-Tawi, 8,203; and Basilan, including Lamitan City, 5,193.
BARMM, with a total population of over 4.4 million and the lowest vaccination rate among all Philippine regions, has an ongoing information campaign supported by the United Kingdom government and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to address hesitancy and refusal to get coronavirus vaccines.
The Ministry of Health said 314,877 of the eligible population were fully vaccinated as of Nov. 21.
Health Minister Bashary Latiph said last week that the region has sufficient vaccine supply for its target population.
Social Services Minister Raissa Jajurie, meanwhile, said her department is supporting the vaccination campaign by distributing relief aid to indigents who will get their jabs during the three-day campaign.
The region has one of the lowest total coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the country with 15,431 as of Nov. 29. Of the total since the start of the pandemic, 205 were active, 14,603 recovered and 623 died. — MSJ