To prove that vaccines are effective

TACLOBAN CITY- The mayor of this city, Alfred Romualdez, said that he would lead among officials and residents once the vaccines against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are available and prove that these are effective.
Romualdez, who has just recovered from the dreaded virus, also said that the city government is ready to allocate funds as high as P400 million so long as Taclobanons would receive the antidote.
“Funding will not be a problem. We will find ways to allocate funds even it will be P300 million or P400 million (and) I am willing to be a food taster, a guinea pig (once it is available in the city),” the city mayor said in a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
“I will do it if it will encourage our people to be vaccinated,” he added.
According to the city mayor, he has yet to decide what brand of vaccines the city government will procure but added that he is closely coordinating with the national government through his cousin, Leyte congressman and House Majority Floor Leader Ferdinand Martin Romualdez on this regards.
He, however, stressed that his primary considerations in buying the vaccines are good price and their efficacy.
This early, he cautioned Taclobanons who will be receiving the vaccines to continue to observe all the health protocols as the inoculation should not be considered 100 percent antidote for one not to acquire the virus.
Tacloban is considered as a high risk area due to the presence of community transmission of COVID-19.
The city has, at present, 1,558 COVID-19 cases with 160 active cases and 25 deaths.
Meantime, city health officer, Dr. Gloria Fabrigas said that they are initially targeting around 89,000 persons to be given the vaccines, representing about 40 percent of the city’s population.
The city government will also be needing more than 200 vaccinators who will be deployed to the different vaccination areas which are mostly hospitals.
These vaccinators could potentially give the vaccines to 75-100 people per day.

First case in entire Visayas Region

TACLOBAN CITY- The Department of Agriculture (DA) has confirmed of existence of the African fever swine (ASF) here in the region, particularly in Abuyog town, Leyte.
And as an immediate effort to contain any further spread of the ASF to other villages of Abuyog and other areas in Leyte, their department immediately took action, Angel Enriquez, DA regional director, said in a statement.
The DA official said that this is the first case of ASF not only in Eastern Visayas but for the entire Visayas Region.
“Disease control measures in the ASF affected areas are currently being conducted. Moreover, three local veterinary quarantine checkpoints in the boundaries of Abuyog, Leyte are now in place,” Enriquez said.
These checkpoints are being manned by members of the Philippine National Police, Provincial Agriculture and Veterinary Office and by the local government unit.
Enriquez said that the ASF affected the villages of Can-aporong and Bunga wherein ‘unusual swine mortalities’ involving backyard farms were noticed during the latter part of December last year.
On Jan.6, their office conducted what Enriquez called ‘disease investigation’ and sample collection involving seven pigs.
Using ASF antigen detection rapid test, four of the samples yielded positive result based on the laboratory results.
And to ensure further if the positive result was accurate, the ASF serum samples were sent to the Animal Disease Diagnosis and Reference Laboratory of the Bureau Animal Industry, an attached DA agency, last Jan.11.
This yielded a positive result for ASF.
Their office immediately coordinated with the local government unit wherein it was agreed to right away implement disease control measures like depopulation and proper disposal of the affected hogs. Inventory of the hogs in the two affected villages and disease surveillance and sampling to include those from nearby barangays.
The local government unit also restricted the movements of swine and hogs beginning Jan.14 until Feb.15; culling or depopulation of swine should be imposed in the affected barangays, especially those located 500 meters radius from the infected swines and affected hog or swine raisers would be indemnify the amount of which have yet to be determined.
It is not yet clear how many hogs were affected by ASF and how they acquired the virus as the DA is still conducting further investigation which is somewhat hampered as Abuyog was placed under community quarantine due to its high cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which bars non-residents to enter the town.
Abuyog’s nearby towns, Javier and La Paz, have also instituted measures to ensure that their hog industry would not be affected by ASF.