Youth rep urges DOH, IATF to boost coronavirus vaccine info drive
MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker has urged authorities to ramp up the country's information campaign on COVID-19 vaccines to convince more people to be inoculated for the country to eventually reach herd immunity.
Rep. Sarah Elago (Kabataan Party-list) in House Resolution 1818 called on the Department of Health and the pandemic task force to push harder to get people to get vaccinated.
"One of the most effective ways of preventing the worsening of the health and economic situation is vaccinating all Filipinos from the disease," she said.
Inoculations in the country began in March and more than six million doses have since been administered. This translates to 1.68 million Filipinos fully vaccinated and 4.63 million who have received their first dose.
These numbers are still far from the government's goal of 50 to 70 million this year.
Vaccine acceptance
A Social Weather Stations survey last month suggested that only 32% of Filipinos were inclined to get the jabs, 35% who were uncertain and 33% outright unwilling.
"Aside from the slow pace of vaccination in the country, several pieces of disinformation have been prevalent," Elago continued, citing drugs being touted by some as a cure for COVID-19 despite no scientific basis.
Some lawmakers and individuals have pushed for the use of the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin against the disease.
But the DOH, various medical groups and even its own local manufacturer in the country have said that there remains no proof to date that it would work. They also warned that human consumption could be highly toxic.
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Despite this, lawmakers who initiated an invermectin distribution in Quezon City have yet to meet charges, despite officials saying such is against the law.
The Food and Drug Administration has since granted some hospitals a compassionate use permit to use the drug on its COVID-19 patients.
Aside from the push for ivermectin, disinformation and misinformation about vaccines, including conspiracy theories that they are meant for population control, have led to vaccine hesitation in the Philippines and abroad.
Elago also wrote on Twitter in Filipino: "COVID-19 vaccination is not only about protecting one's self, but also for communities and the entire country's resistance when we meet herd immunity."
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