Almost a year since the inoculation rollout against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) started here, Cebu province, including this capital city, has administered some 5.6 million vaccine doses, the Department of Health-Central Visayas (DOH-7) on Thursday said.

DOH-7 data showed that a total of 2.8 million were administered as first dose, 2.6 million for second dose, and 232,358 doses for booster shots.

Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, DOH-7 chief pathologist, said the number of doses administered in Metro Cebu areas accounts for 3.9 million doses or 70 percent of the over-all accomplishment in the island of Cebu.

Metro Cebu is composed of the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu, Talisay, Naga, and the towns of Liloan, Consolacion, and Cordova in the north, and Minglanilla in the south.

Loreche said the province’s northern and southern localities reported 938,663 and 742,127 total doses administered, respectively.

She reported that 72.49 percent of Metro Cebu’s 2.4 million individuals are eligible for inoculation against Covid-19.

Loreche, meanwhile, urged workers in the tourism and hospitality sector to get vaccinated and boosted against Covid-19 to protect travelers who will visit their establishments.

“We really want that when they go back to their places of origin, they will bring with them the good news how beautiful (and safe) one Cebu is and tell their countrymen they were not afraid of having been here,” she said. (PNA)