High jab rate, complacency seen as reasons
BY JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR and GERARD NAVAL
GOVERNMENT is expecting a continued drop in the number of individuals having themselves vaccinated against COVID-19, which this month may reach only around five million to six million, the lowest since the decline started in December last year, National Task Force against COVID-19 chief and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said Tuesday night.
The government targets to fully vaccinate 77 million by the end of March to cover 70 percent of the population. As of March 15, only about 64.8 million people have been fully vaccinated.
NTF medical adviser Ted Herbosa, during the “Laging Handa” public briefing yesterday, said among the reasons for the decline are the already high vaccination rate and low alert level.
“I think nagkakaroon na tayo ng tinatawag na saturation ng mga gustong magpabakuna (I think we are having a saturation among those willing to be vaccinated),” he said referring to the fewer people going to vaccine centers.
Herbosa also said the government is still hoping that the 77-million target can still be reached this month.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the continued decline in the turnout is not surprising, considering the vaccination program is in its final stages.
The government’s vaccination drive started on March 1 last year. The government has launched four phases of the “Bayanihan, Bakunahan,” a national vaccination program aimed at reaching more people. Bayanihan 4 was launched last week and failed to reach its target of 1.8 million vaccinees. The Department of Health on Tuesday said it would be the last and operations will now focus on areas with low vaccination rates.
Vergeire said, “When you have a vaccination program, at the outset, the targets are really high because many need to be reached. But as we go along with this program, we have seen that we have covered those that need to be vaccinated.”
“We need to understand that we are on to our last mile of our vaccination program. Now, we are looking for them (unvaccinated) in different parts of the country. This is really a challenge for us,” she added.
Vergeire also said one of the main reasons for the failure to vaccinate is continued vaccine hesitancy.
“There are those who continue to spread wrong information. Thus, the people continue to have the wrong perception towards the vaccine,” she said.
“Among our elderly, they believe that because they are already old, they will no longer need the vaccine,” she also said.
Vergeire said another reason is a shortage in manpower for immunization activities.
“The non-COVID services are slowly returning. Thus, the manpower is being divided for those giving jabs and rendering non-COVID services,” she said.
Some areas, Vergeire said, lack access to the vaccines due to lack of transportation.
“We really need to reach these population by doing the house-to-house activities,” said Vergeire.
Galvez, during President Duterte’s “Talk to the People” address on Tuesday night and aired yesterday, said that as of this week, only 3.319 million doses of vaccines have been administered nationwide, but the number could go up to around five million to six million by the end of the month.
The country has received around 237.89 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of March 14, and more 139.45 million have been administered as of March 15.
At least 70 million individuals have received the first dose and 11.29 million the booster shot.
During the Bayanihan 4, only 1.4 million individuals of the 1.8-million target were vaccinated. Bayanihan 4 has been extended to March 18.
“Continuous pa rin po ang decline ng pagbabakuna, lalo na po sa pag-a-administer ng booster. Nananatiling mababa kahit na mataas ang willingness na 80 percent (The decline is continuing especially in the administering of booster. The vaccination remains low even if the willingness is high at 80 percent),” Galvez said.
Galvez said many people are now being complacent especially in getting their booster shots. Boosters are given two months after being fully vaccinated with the two-dose vaccines and two months after the one-dose vaccine.
He said the decline started in December 2021 when around 22.289 million doses of vaccines were administered, down from 27.104 million doses in November. It continued to drop in January with 18.24 million doses and February with 8.795 million doses.
Galvez and Herbosa said the government will continue with the inoculation drive with more concentration in areas with low vaccination rates such as the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region Muslim Mindanao.
NTF records show that of the 3.5 million targeted population in BARMM, only 25.95 percent or 912,648 are fully vaccinated.
