Typhoons Jolina, Kiko paused COVID-19 vaccination in 71 areas —NVOC

The government’s COVID-19 vaccination program was paused for at least a day in 71 municipalities due to successive typhoons Jolina and Kiko, the National Vaccination Operation Center (NVOC) said Monday.

In a Laging Handa briefing, Dr. Kezia Rosario of the NVOC, said that 19 of the municipalities were in the Bicol region, which stopped vaccinations last September 7 due to typhoon Jolina.

In Region 8 or Eastern Visayas, 49 municipalities stopped their COVID-19 vaccinations on September 7 and 8.

Typhoon Kiko, for its part, stopped COVID-19 vaccinations in three municipalities in Cagayan province.

Rosario, however, said that all of the country’s COVID-19 vaccine supply were unscathed by the typhoons.

“In Batanes, we do not have any updates yet how many municipalities are affected, but as of now, we know that all of the vaccines were transported doon in provincial health offices for storage for the time being. Vaccines for Itbayat, Batanes were also transported in its district hospital,” she said.

“Our information as of the moment is that all of our COVID-19 vaccine supply are intact and were not affected by the typhoons,” she added.

Over 38.7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered so far. Of this number, around 16 million Filipinos are already fully vaccinated against COVID-19. — BM, GMA News