PALO, Leyte (PIA) -- The Department of Health in Eastern Visayas (DOH-8) has ramped up its vaccination campaign amid the increasing trend of COVID-19 cases in the region for the past weeks.

This, as the Regional Vaccination Operations Center (RVOC) aims to upscale and upgrade its COVID-19 vaccine program implementation.

During the virtual Regional Inter-Agency Task Force (RIATF) Meeting on Monday, July 12, Princess Debbie Garcia of RVOC Secretariat said their focus now is to maximize the vaccination of the priority groups A1 to A3.

“By vaccinating those who belong to the vulnerable groups, they will be protected from contracting severe symptoms in case they get infected. And if only few of them will get sick, health care facilities won’t be overwhelmed and the health care system will be preserved, Garcia said.

Region 8 has already received 524,450 doses of COVID-19 vaccines from four different brands of vaccines namely Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Gamaleya.

On Wednesday morning, an additional 19 boxes of COVID-19 vaccines containing 77,500 doses of AstraZeneca arrived at the Tacloban DZR airport via PAL.

Jelyn Lopez-Malibago, DOH-8 information officer said, this is the fourth delivery of AstraZeneca vaccines in the region which is allotted for priority groups A1 to A3.

As of July 13, 2021, a total of 358,061 doses have been administered in various vaccination centers in Eastern Visayas, of which 257,854 were first doses and 100,207 were second doses. (LDL/CBA/PIA-8)