Vaccine hesitancy down to 10%

MANILA, Philippines — Vaccine hesitancy among Filipinos is now down to just 10 percent, according to the Department of Health (DOH).

“At the start, since last year, there was (vaccine) hesitancy with about 30 percent (of Filipinos). But that has now gone down to 10 percent,” Health Undersecretary Leopoldo de Vega said in Filipino in a radio interview yesterday.

Vega gave assurance that the government is still looking for ways to convince vaccine-hesitant Filipinos to get inoculated against COVID-19.

The vaccination drive, Vega said, is still continuing as part of the government’s effort to inoculate at least 77 million people nationwide by the end of March.

The government, Vega said, failed to meet the target to vaccinate five million people during the Bakunahan 3 because certain areas in the country are still affected by Typhoon Odette.

As false information about vaccination continues to circulate, Malacañang reminded the public that the fight should be directed against the pandemic, not the COVID-19 jabs.

“The vaccine is a weapon, not the enemy,” acting presidential spokesman Karlo Nograles said in Filipino at a press briefing last Friday.

“In vaccination, we are not the only ones who will benefit, but also the entire nation,” he added.

Nograles reiterated that vaccination against COVID-19 is the key to returning to normalcy.

“In the midst of numbers and information, we want to highlight what is clearly stated by the data and science: one of our most effective protection against the infection is vaccination. This is the key that allowed us to address the latest surge caused by this virus. They are safe, effective and free for every Filipino,” he said.

More than 62 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, still far from the goal of the Duterte administration to inoculate 90 million before it steps down on June 30. More than nine million persons have availed themselves of booster shots.

Last week, National Task Force against COVID-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. reported that 10 of the country’s 17 regions have fully inoculated their population, while six others have fully vaccinated more than 60 percent of their residents.

Only one region, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), reported a vaccination rate of less than 50 percent, jabbing only 28 percent of its population as of last week.

Officials have said that the high vaccination rates have kept hospital bed utilization rates low despite the surge in infections caused by the Omicron variant.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire called on the public to rely only on credible sources of information when it comes to vaccination. She also assured parents that the vaccines administered on minors are safe.

“Do not immediately believe information spreading in social media, verify it first and rely only on trusted and legitimate sources. We again remind mothers, fathers and legal guardians to register our young population so they can get additional protection against COVID-19 from the vaccines,” she said in Filipino.

The government started vaccinating children aged five to 11 years old this month. The health department has said it is considering conducting house-to-house inoculation to reach more people in areas with low vaccination coverage.

Boosters for adolescents

Speaking at the Laging Handa public briefing on Saturday, Vergeire said giving a booster shot to adolescents is still under study by experts globally.

“International experts are still assessing the safety and effectiveness it can provide in case we do this,” she noted.

But Vergeire assured the public of government’s readiness to roll out booster shots for adolescents once there is evidence to prove their safety and effectiveness.

“The government is prepared for it once there is complete evidence available. We have a budget allocated and ongoing negotiations regarding that,” Vergeire bared.

Based on DOH data, there are 9.4 million adolescents aged 12 to 17 years old that have been vaccinated.

80 million by June

As part of preparation for the country’s transition to the new normal, the government is looking to inoculate 80 million people nationwide by June.

“Our next target is 80 percent of the population at 80 million by June,” Vega said, adding some parts of Mindanao are still difficult to reach after Typhoon Odette.

According to Vega, the national government is already preparing for the further downgrading of alert level.

He said the Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases is eyeing a shift to Alert Level 1 by end of February.

“We are still looking at the metrics now and they are good, although they are looking good… under Alert Level 1, almost everything is normal but that doesn’t mean the virus is gone,” Vega explained. – Alexis Romero