MANILA, Philippines — The government is hoping to inoculate more than 90% of the country’s elderly—who are second in line under the vaccination program—by the end of July, the Department of Health said Friday.
Inoculation rate among senior citizens remains low, with only 10.41% or over 861,560 million completing their vaccination. The government is targeting to inoculate 8.27 million Filipino senior citizens.
Meanwhile, 31.81% or 2.63 million of the targeted population have received their first shot.
The DOH earlier identified false information about COVID-19 vaccines and concerns on possible side effects as the reasons why the elderly are hesitant to get jabbed.
Older people are vulnerable to developing severe illness if they contract COVID-19.
To encourage more senior citizens to get vaccinated, the DOH conducted town hall discussions. Local governments also set up priority lanes for the elderly in vaccination centers and organized house-to-house vaccination.
Last month, the government’s pandemic task force allowed fully-vaccinated senior citizens in areas under general community quarantine and modified GCQ to leave their homes
Target for persons with comorbidities
The government is also aiming to vaccinate at least 90% of persons with comorbidities by the end of August, DOH Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said.
Out of the targeted population of 7.08 million, 14.67% or 1.03 million individuals with medical condition have finished vaccination. Meanwhile, 44.95% or 3.18 million have received at least one dose.
Since inoculation efforts began in March, only 3.2 million have completed their vaccination, while over 9.49 million have gotten the first of two doses.
The vaccination program has slowed down due to delays in the arrival of vaccine shipments from abroad. — Gaea Katreena Cabico