RAMP UP JABS, GO URGES GOVT
SEN. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go called on the government to ramp up its vaccination program by bringing vaccines in villages and subdivisions.
He also asked government officials to provide detailed guidelines on required processes to be followed by those who are next in line or are eligible to get a jab.
Go reiterated the need to ensure accessible, efficient and orderly vaccine rollout to lessen the waiting time and exposure of the public.
He urged the Department of Health to spread out vaccination centers in villages and consider administering vaccines in smaller residential clusters.
“Bringing vaccines to smaller residential clusters, like villages, sitios, or subdivisions, will avoid overcrowding in existing vaccination centers and will prevent the further spread of Covid-19,” Go said.
“As we expect more vaccines to be delivered and as we have also widened the priority list to cater to more essential sectors, we must keep on ramping up and speeding up the vaccination rollout to achieve herd immunity,” he added.
The senator said doing inoculation in smaller residential clusters would be safer than asking residents to go to overcrowded barangay vaccination centers and those located in malls.
“LGUs [local government units] and DOH must maximize available facilities, volunteers, doctors and nurses to speed up an orderly inoculation. Sabi nga ng Pangulo noon, dalhin dapat ang bakuna sa pinaka-mahihirap at pinaka-malalayong mga lugar (The President have said before that the vaccine should be brought to the poorest and the farthest places),” he said.
Go reiterated the importance of strictly adhering to the vaccination priority list. He reminded the public to be disciplined, vigilant and cooperative in the face of rising new cases of infections.
“Ulitin ko, sumunod tayo sa priority list, alam natin gusto na natin mabakunahan pero ayaw natin mayroong mago-overtake na hindi naman kasama sa priority list (Let me reiterate, let us follow the priority list, we know that everybody wants to be vaccinated but we do not want somebody to overtake even if they are not on the priority list),” Go stressed.
The senator also welcomed the decision of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to include media workers in the priority group A4 of the National Covid-19 Vaccine Program.
The senator had earlier appealed to the government to include members of the media on the vaccine priority list.
In an interview on Saturday, April 17, Go pointed out the significant role played by the media in disseminating information about the pandemic to the public.
He pointed out that media workers, especially field reporters, put their health and safety at risk to keep Filipinos informed about the country’s current situation.
“Ang importante naman rito ngayon, kung ano ’yung available na bakuna na dumarating, sundin lang natin ang priority list ng gobyerno, sa health workers, sa frontliners, pababa sa indigents, sa mga senior citizens. Ito naman sa
A4 natin . . . ay napakahalaga rin ang kanilang (media) ginagampanan (What is important now, on
the available vaccine, we should follow the priority list of the government, which is the health workers, the frontliners, down to the indigents and the senior citizens. Under the A4, the media is also performing a very important role),” said Go, who is also the chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography.
More than 1.4 million doses of Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines have been administered since vaccinations began in March, putting the country third among its peers in the Southeast Asian region, according to the Department of Health.
According to Health Undersecretary for Field Implementation and Coordination Myrna Cabotaje, 1.264 million had received their first dose of vaccine, which includes 960,161 health care workers, 128,018 senior citizens and 176,305 individuals with comorbidities.
Also, 191,982 frontline health workers have received their second dose of the vaccine, making them fully vaccinated.
Cabotaje said there were 54,179 people who deferred their vaccinations due to medical issues or needing additional clearance, but the department has no data on those who had been at the vaccination center and refused to take the vaccine at the last minute.
“Bago pa sila mag register, dapat set na ’yung mind nila na magpabakuna . . . . kasi we are banking na pag pumunta na sa health facility, ready na syang magpabakuna (Before they have registered, they should have set their minds on getting vaccinated, as we are banking that if they go to the health facility, they are ready to be vaccinated),”
Cabotaje said.
The country received 3,025.600 doses of vaccines, consisting of 2 million doses of Sinovac Biotech’s CoronaVac vaccine and 525,600 doses of the Vaxzevria (formerly AZD1222) vaccine from AstraZeneca donated through the Covax Facility.
Cabotaje said the country expects an additional 1 million doses of Sinovac to arrive on April 22 and 29.
The Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine from the Gamaleya National Research Center is also expected to arrive this month. An initial 20,000 doses will be shipped.
An additional 2.5 million doses of Sinovac, plus the additional supply of Vaxzevria from the Covax Facility that will cover the second dose of those who had been inoculated with the vaccine will also arrive from May to June.
Health Undersecretary and Spokesman Maria Rosario Vergeire reminded the public that people who had been vaccinated against Covid-19 should not feel complacent in not following minimum health standards, as all vaccines have not yet been proven to control transmission of the virus.
“Ang pangako ng bakuna, hindi ka man ma-prevent magkaroon ng sakit . . . ’yung pangako nya na lessening the chance of getting hospitalized and ’yung pagkakamatay, nababawasan (The promise of the vaccines is that you may not prevent sickness, but it promises you of lessening the chances of getting hospitalized and lessening the chances of dying) because of these vaccines,” Vergeire said.