DAVAO CITY - The City of Mati in Davao Oriental has vaccinated 62.18 percent or 66,810 out of the target 107,442 individuals to achieve population protection against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) before the year ends, an official said Wednesday. In an interview, Ben Jason Tesiorna, Mati information officer, said of the number, 23,685 have been partially vaccinated, while 41,125 have been fully vaccinated. "We aim to vaccinate 9,000 Matinians per day for a total of at least 27,000 during the three-day Bayanihan Bakunahan," Tesiorna said. "Bayanihan Bakunahan" is a nationwide three-day vaccination drive from November 29 to December 1 that targets to inoculate 15 million individuals across the country. "(We have) 10 to 15 vaccination sites a day. Two are fixed sites the rest are scheduled since it is done in the barangays, sub-villages and we conduct house-to-house inoculation for those with comorbidities," Tesiorna said. Across the province, the town of Boston has the highest vaccination rate with only a 10,304 target population compared to 10 other municipalities and cities in the area. Mati City comes in second, while Manay town has the lowest with 61.8 percent of its target population still unvaccinated. Meanwhile, Mati Incident Management Team (IMT) commander Dr. Ben Hur Catbagan Jr. congratulated its residents along with purok and barangay leaders, the barangay health emergency response teams, the vaccination teams, the Department of Education, the Davao Oriental State University, and the business sector for their utmost cooperation in the aggressive vaccination campaign launched by the IMT this month. He urged the public to avail of the free vaccination against Covid-19 for Mati City to achieve population protection and return to normalcy. "We hope to achieve Alert Level 1 status by December so that more businesses would open and more people would come out and enjoy the forthcoming holiday," Catbagan added. Under Alert Level 1, establishments can increase their seating capacity from 50 to 70 percent to as much as 100 percent. Authorities, however, reminded the public that despite the easing of restrictions, the observance of the minimum public health standards like the washing of hands, wearing of face mask, physical distancing, and avoidance of mass gathering will still be strictly implemented and observed at all times. (PNA) }