CEBU CITY – The Central Visayas region has registered at least 1.8 million fully vaccinated individuals which represent 33 percent of the 5.6 million total population eligible for inoculation against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), a Department of Health (DOH)-Region 7 official on Wednesday said.

Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, DOH-7 chief pathologist, said the provinces of Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental and Siquijor have inoculated at least 1,873,922 individuals for their second dose which qualifies them to be listed as fully vaccinated.

She said 2,240,822 individuals in the region have received their first dose of the vaccine.

Based on the DOH-7’s latest data, there is a total of 4.1 million doses administered in the four provinces of the region.

Of these, 71 percent or 2.9 million were administered in Cebu and the remaining 29 percent were distributed to Bohol, Negros Oriental and Siquijor.

Loreche said 131,989 medical front-line workers are now scheduled to receive their third jabs, following the directive from DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. to provide them booster shots against Covid-19.

As of October 12, she said, all the healthcare workers in the region have been fully inoculated against Covid-19.

“I’m emphasizing this because this data on medical front-liners will be the basis in giving them booster doses. So we already know how many of them will get the booster jabs. But the expanded A1 vaccinees are not eligible for booster dose,” she said.

Expanded A1 vaccinees are immediate members of a medical worker’s family.

Loreche reported that only 41 percent of 595,649 senior citizens in the region are considered fully vaccinated and 63 percent of the 632,799 persons with comorbidities, as of Tuesday data.

She said 64 percent of 1.1 million economic front-liners in the region have been fully inoculated.

She added that 14 percent of the 1.5 million indigent adults and 15 percent of the other adult population are fully vaccinated.

Since the start of inoculation for the pediatric population, the region has vaccinated 6 percent of the one million eligible children and adolescents aged 12 to 17 years old. (PNA)