The city has hit its target of vaccinating at least 70 percent or 51,897 of its eligible population.

City Mayor Michael M. Keon confirmed this on Monday following his meeting with members of the City Vaccination Operations Center to speed up the average vaccination rate among city residents.

As of November 4, Keon reported a total of 51,897 residents were already vaccinated with at least one dose while 41,952 or 55.94 percent were already fully vaccinated.

“This data does not include the recipients from various vaccination rollouts conducted by other government offices and agencies,” he said.

At present, the city government looks forward to vaccinating children aged 12 to 17 years old but they have yet to wait for the go signal from the Department of Health.

To speed up the vaccination of all eligible population against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), the city government announced that its mega vaccination center at the Divine Word College of Laoag campus has already allowed walk-ins since last week.

For those who wish to get vaccinated, all they have to do is to go to the vaccination site and present their current identification card or barangay clearance if they are residents of the city or show an employer’s certification if working in the city.

With the arrival of more vaccines here, residents are being encouraged to get their jabs for their protection. The mayor hopes that by the end of this year, 100 percent of the eligible population will be fully vaccinated.

Due to the high acceptance and fast rollout of the Covid-19 vaccines here, Laoag City has been identified as one among the few local government units in the country that were given a priority in terms of vaccine allocation since October. (PNA)