The province of Bohol has achieved herd immunity against COVID-19 after vaccinating over 70 percent of its target eligible population against the highly contagious disease, a health official said on Thursday.

Bohol Inter-Agency Task Force (BIATF) spokesperson Dr. Yul Lopez said at least 797,152 residents have completed their primary series of the vaccine since mass inoculation started in the province in mid-2021.

“Nakalabang na ta sa national requirement para ma achieve ang herd immunity,” said Lopez.

The number of vaccinated individuals is 72.12 percent of the province’s eligible population of 1,106,084, which is around 80 percent of the total population, he added.

However, most of the province remained under Alert Level 2 in the COVID-19 alert classification system which authorities intend to be downgraded in the forthcoming weeks.

Lopez said there will be no letup in the province’s vaccination campaign, noting that they will conduct house-to-house inoculation particularly for senior citizens.

Bohol still needs to achieve a 70-percent vaccination rate for senior citizens for the entire province to be classified under Alert Level 1.

According to Lopez, the local government has so far vaccinated 65 percent of senior citizens.

“Among challenge is karong buwana humanon nato ni so nag start na ta sa house to housei nstead na maghulat sa health center para kaning mga identified na seniors gipangadto nato ang atong mga kauban,” said Lopez.  

As of May, only 14 or 31 percent of the 48 localities in Bohol were placed under Alert Level 1.

Lopez, who is also the chief of the Provincial Health Office, said a downgrade\ to Alert Level 1 will help the province’s economy recover from the blows it has had to endure due to pandemic-induced restrictions.

Under the least restrictive alert classification, businesses will be allowed to operate at 100 capacity.

Lopez previously explained that localities need to meet four requisites to be placed under Alert Level 1.

A local government unit’s (LGU) area of responsibility should be considered “low-risk” for COVID-19, which means the locality only has single-digit number of active cases of the disease.

Utilization of an LGU’s quarantine facilities should also be “very low.”

The LGU should have also fully administered COVID-19 vaccines to more than 70 percent of its total eligible population and 70 percent of its senior citizen population. (A. Doydora)