Dr. Michelle Schlosser, the spokesperson of the city’s COVID-19 Task Force, said their focus is providing an extra layer of protection to Dabawenyos through the anti-COVID-19 primary two-dose series and booster shots.
Schlosser reiterated that the COVID-19 vaccine may not promise anyone total immunity against the disease amid the relaxed health protocols but it guarantees protection from getting critical to severe symptoms of the virus that may result in death.
"Unfortunately, this week we may have a few active cases but we have six deaths,” she said in a report from the City Information Office.
Schlosser further said the goal and future aspirations of the Task Force in the coming days is to have zero COVID-19 deaths.
Schlosser emphasized that vaccines are available in barangays, puroks, and districts, and they have provided the areas where the vaccines are available.
She said of the recent six deaths, three were senior citizens aged 60 years old and above, one from the 50 to 59 population age group, and one each from the 20 to 29 and 30 to 30 age brackets.
Two of the six COVID-19 deaths were unvaccinated and four were vaccinated but never had any booster dose.
She said the death demographics are significant, citing other primary vaccines that also have boosters.
She added, "Same concept sa atong COVID-19 vaccine, mag-wane ang efficacy.
“It's the same concept with the COVID-19 vaccine, the efficacy wanes. When you get infected, there's a great chance for you to get the severe to critical type of COVID-19 due to the waning efficacy,” she said.
According to her, the effect of the vaccine has decreased, thus people need a booster to keep the efficacy of the vaccine strong in the body.
Schlosser said the highest number of deaths were from the 60 to 69 age group, and the rest were from the 70 to 79, 80 to 89, zero to nine, 10 to 19, and 20 to 20 population age groups.
Meanwhile, the school-based vaccinations are being held every Friday to cater to students who are attending in-person classes but Schlosser said they would need the consent of the parents and guardians.
Weekend vaccinations, on the other hand, are still happening all Saturdays and Sundays until December 2022 at the People's Park from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. while barangay and district health center vaccinations are set during weekdays.
Mobile vaccination teams are also being deployed to bring the services closer to the barangays.