Government kicks off info drive on COVID-19 vaccines

MANILA, Philippines — The government has kicked off its “Explain, Explain, Explain” information campaign to boost the public’s confidence in COVID-19 vaccines.

The campaign, part of preparations for the rollout of the government’s vaccination program, started with a town hall meeting with local officials in Mandaue City in Cebu last Tuesday.

Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar said equipping the public with the right information would reduce COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.

“The PCOO continues to operate its Laging Handa information and communications campaign to assure the public that the Duterte administration is on top of the COVID-19 situation in the country,” Andanar said in a statement.

“This includes our strides to disseminate and reiterate the need to observe health protocols and precautionary measures, to dispel false information and to advocate for preparedness and vigilance and harnessing solidarity through participatory governance,” he added.

The country has reported more than 503,000 COVID-19 infections but a number of Filipinos still have reservations about vaccines.

A Pulse Asia survey conducted from Nov. 23 to Dec. 2 last year found 47 percent of Filipinos saying they would not get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Only 32 percent said they would get inoculated while 21 percent were undecided.

A huge majority or 84 percent of those who did not want to receive shots said they were not sure of the safety of the vaccines.

Andanar said the government is carefully executing the vaccine roadmap to ensure that no resources would be wasted.

“The road ahead of the COVID-19 roadmap will not be easy. As we have seen in reports from other countries, difficulties will always be present. There were shortcomings in policies implemented and we should learn from these,” Andanar said.

“All of us here are part of the government that will solve this problem and the COVID-19 vaccine is our hope. But if we cannot manage it well, it can also be our pitfall,” he added.

The Philippines has signed agreements to buy jabs from Sinovac, Moderna, Serum Institute of India and AstraZeneca.