Antique province is eyeing to carry out a house-to-house vaccination due to the low immunization rate among senior citizens and adults with comorbidities.

Board member Mayella Mae Plameras-Ladislao, the chairperson of the committee on health, sanitation, and social services, said in an interview Tuesday the Antique Provincial Board has proposed that the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) and rural health units hold a mobile vaccination drive to cover the target sectors.

“Health personnel will have to visit house-to-house the senior citizens and those with comorbidity so that they could also avail of the vaccination,” she said.

It is also expected to benefit other marginalized sectors such as public transport drivers, market vendors, and other daily wage earners who cannot afford to leave work to receive the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccine.

“There are senior citizens and those with comorbidity who could no longer go to the vaccination sites because of their age and physical condition,” she said.

She added that family members of the bedridden elderly have difficulty in transporting them to the vaccination sites in municipal plazas or gymnasiums.

However, the Provincial Board and the local government have yet to set a date and to come up with a thorough plan on when to start the mobile inoculation program after approving the resolution.

The Department of Health Western Visayas Center for Health Development (DOH WV CH6) during its virtual press conference Monday, reported that as of Aug. 19, only 44, 863 have received their first dose and 26,243 for the second dose out of the 612,974 eligible population under Priority Group A which include the senior citizens and adults with comorbidities. (PNA)