Duterte urges Filipinos to get vaccinated vs COVID-19, hints gov't can require jabs
MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday urged Filipinos to get vaccinated against COVID-19, saying it is "a step towards a return to normalcy."
He hinted that the government could require people to get vaccinated, saying that, "under the police power of the state, everybody can be compelled to get vaccinated."
Although the president in June threatened to arrest people who refuse to be vaccinated, there is no law or written policy that makes vaccination against COVID-19 mandatory for now.
He said, though, that government workers who refuse to be vaccinated should leave government.
"You are a carrier and a danger to society," he also said of people refusing vaccination.
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The government has been studying a proposal for "bakuna bubbles" that would relax pandemic restrictions for people already vaccinated against COVID-19.
The proposal will also limit the movements of people who have yet to be vaccinated, a prospect that the Commission on Human Rights warned could lead to undue discrimination against the unvaccinated.
Vaccination in the Philippines has been hampered by tight supply, but Duterte said Monday that the inoculation program has been making progress. He said that "more than 20.3 million Filipinos, or 26%, of the country's eligible population have been fully vaccinated."
The president added that the Philippines "will get at least 100 million doses by the end of October, that means maybe we can expand the vaccination program to the general population and hopefully also our children within October."
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Trust in vaccines has also been affected by the Dengvaxia controversy, where government lawyers blamed the dengue vaccine program — since suspended and eventually scrapped — for children's deaths. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, low vaccination rates contributed to measles outbreaks in the Philippines in 2019.
Vaccination against COVID-19 can help prevent transmission and infection but is not a guarantee that a vaccinated person will not get the coronavirus disease.
Vaccines can, however, reduce the risk of contracting severe COVID-19 and reduce the need to get hospital treatment.
There have been cases of COVID-19 even among vaccinated health workers at the Philippine General Hospital but the cases have been mild.
The Department of Health has repeatedly stressed that vaccinated people should still practice safety measures like wearing face masks and face shields and physical distancing.
People are also advised to stay at home to avoid the risk of exposure to the coronavirus.
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