DOH: COVID-19 vaccination not mandatory but will benefit everyone
MANILA, Philippines — The government will not compel Filipinos to get vaccinated against COVID-19 but the public should understand that receiving COVID-19 shots will also protect their families, the Department of Health said Monday.
“We’re not going in the direction that we’re going to force vaccines on people,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a briefing.
But the government highly encourages the public to take part in COVID-19 vaccination, which is one of the most important tools to end the pandemic.
“People have to realize that even though we’re not mandating it, we’re strongly encouraging vaccination. Because having yourself inoculated is not only for your own benefit but also for your family,” Vergeire said.
“If they become protected from getting COVID-19, their family members can be also protected because we lessen those people who can be exposed and who can have this kind of disease among our population,” she added in a mix of English and Filipino.
The government faces the challenge of conducting a massive COVID-19 vaccination campaign, which relies heavily on public trust that vaccines are both effective and safe, as it re-establishes trust in immunization following the highly politicized Dengvaxia controversy in 2017.
RELATED: How the Dengvaxia scare helped erode decades of public trust in vaccines
Almost half of Filipinos are not inclined to get vaccinated against COVID-19 mainly due to safety concerns, a survey released by Pulse Asia in January suggested. Only 32% of the 2,400 adult respondents said they were willing get COVID-19 jabs, while the remaining 21% were undecided.
A separate Social Weather Stations survey released last year showed that 66% of adult Filipinos were willing to receive COVID-19 jabs, while 31% were not.
The Philippines is aiming to secure a total of 146 to 148 vaccine doses to inoculate at least 50 million people this year alone. Frontline health workers remain on top of the priority list for COVID-19 vaccination, followed by senior citizens, persons with comorbidities, frontline workers in essential sectors including uniformed personnel and poor families.
Malacañang said the country is ready to launch its COVID-19 immunization drive next week but there is no exact date yet for the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines from the COVAX facility.
The country has nearly 539,000 COVID-19 cases, including over 11,000 deaths.
- Latest
- Trending
