Lawmakers urged to embark on Covid shot information drive, reverse ‘vaccine hesitancy’
FOLLOWING the release of a recent tracking poll indicating that majority of Filipinos may not be willing to receive shots against the coronavirus, a lawmaker on Monday asked members of the lower chamber to take part in public information drives in their respective localities to boost the government’s Covid-19 vaccination program.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Ray Villafuerte said lawmakers should make use of the almost two-month Lenten break of Congress to initiate information campaigns in their respective congressional districts to help government reverse “vaccine hesitancy.”
Congress adjourned last March 25 for its Lenten break and will resume session on May 17.
“Lawmakers should be at the forefront of the government’s efforts to convince adult Filipinos that the vaccines against Covid-19 are safe, that mass inoculation is necessary for us to contain the prolonged pandemic, and that achieving herd immunity via immunization is the only way for us to boost business confidence and consumer spending, which, in turn, could set off a quick and strong recovery from the coronavirus-driven global recession,” he said.
“Legislators should take steps to help keep on track the government’s target to immunize 100 percent of the country’s adult population of about 70 million, more so now in the face of a two-week surge that has jacked up the caseload to almost 10,000 daily infections,” Villafuerte added.
The government has placed the National Capital Region (NCR) along with its four other neighboring provinces that form part of the so-called “NCR Plus bubble” under the stricter enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) for a week till Easter Sunday, as the Octa Research Group projected the number of coronavirus infections to soar to 12,000 to 13,000 daily this April.
The Department of Health (DOH) reported that new Covid-19 cases went up to an all-time high of 9,838 before the weekend, surpassing the 2020 record of 6,958 logged last August 10.
Moreover, Villafuerte said the government, Congress and the private sector should work together in reversing the apparent vaccine hesitancy among Filipinos, especially at this time when the rise of new, more transmissible Covid-19 variants and the seemingly lax observance by some sectors or groups of social distancing and other safety protocols, are believed responsible for what has been described as the “second wave” of coronavirus infections.
The Pulse Asia survey showed that although nearly all adult Filipinos are aware of the vaccines developed against the coronavirus, 61 percent does not want to be vaccinated against the deadly Covid-19.
President Duterte’s economic managers have secured P58.4 billion for the acquisition of vaccine doses enough to immunize 70 million Filipinos or 100 percent of the country’s adult population.