PRESIDENT Duterte on Tuesday said he saw “fault lines” in the government’s COVID-19 vaccine drive and local officials “who are not performing nor using the doses given to them in a most expeditious manner” would be sanctioned and made accountable.
The President, during his Talk to the People address, said the country has so far received around 109 million doses of vaccines but he is not satisfied with the slow vaccination, especially in some provinces.
Duterte said he could not pinpoint where the fault lies as the deployment of vaccines from the national government to local government is usually fast. He said there may be some problems once the vaccines reach provincial and regional levels.
“May nakita kaming fault lines sa overall picture ng program ng vaccination. Eh medyo hindi ako na — medyo nakuntento (We saw some fault lines in the overall picture of vaccination program. I am not satisfied),” Duterte said without specifying which local government units (LGUs) are under-performing, or what the “fault lines” are.
Duterte issued instructions to address the issues, such as directing all agencies to help LGUs reach the target of administering one million jabs or more daily.
He again ordered National Task Force against COVID-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., the police, and the military to provide support to the LGUs, such as the use of air assets to deliver vaccines to remote areas.
“I have also ordered Secretary Año to impose the necessary sanction against LGUs and local chief executives who are not performing nor using the doses given to them in a most expeditious manner. I will hold each and every LGU accountable for this,” he added.
Late last month, the Department of Interior and Local Government said it will file charges against local chief executives (LECs) who will fail to ramp up vaccination, or for wastage of vaccines in their areas. Interior Undersecretary and spokesman Jonathan Malaya noted that Secretary Eduardo Año has issued a series of memorandum circulars about the need to ramp up the vaccination.
Malaya said the LCEs may be held liable under Republic Act 11525 or the COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021, and Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991, and may be suspended or removed from the service.
The President last week said LGUs should have a systematic and efficient way of identifying and convincing their constituents who are still unvaccinated to be inoculated or they would answer to the DILG.
Año said there is a gap of about 10 million entries in the government’s vaccination database as some 30 percent of the LGUs continue to fail to immediately submit their vaccination records to the national government.
He said some LGUs are asked to submit their vaccine data by 6 a.m. daily.
He said LGUs should assign a senior database officer to ensure their compliance with the submission of their line lists.
The COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard as of November 2 showed that the government has administered 60.4 million jabs nationwide with 27.7 million individuals now fully vaccinated.
Duterte said the country exceeded its target of vaccinating 55 million Filipinos in October as it inoculated 59.5 million.
He said this brings the country closer to “achieving the target of (fully vaccinating) at least 35 percent by the end of the year.”
He thanked the other countries for their “generous vaccine donations” such as the United States, China, Japan, South Korean, and Germany, among others, which augmented the country’s vaccine supply.
Galvez said the government is targeting to administer at least 15 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of this month by raising the daily jabs to one million to 1.5 million by November 20, and activating 4,000 to 5,000 vaccine sites including malls, universities, schools, gyms, camps and function halls of government agencies.
Galvez said the government also targets to fully vaccinate 70 percent of the elder population in the country; fully vaccinate all the teachers, students and school personnel; and fully vaccinate 50 percent to 70 percent of the targeted population in the Calabarzon (Region IV-A) and Central Luzon (Region III), all this November.
To date, 4.785 million elders nationwide are fully vaccinated while 3.93 million are still awaiting their second jab. About 87 percent to 90 percent of the teachers and students in the tertiary level are also now fully vaccinated.
Galvez said the government also aims to administer booster shots for 1.5 million health workers this November, especially those who are working in hospitals and attending to COVID-19 patients.
A national vaccine Day either on November 20 or November 30 is being planned to boost the vaccination program of the government and reach more unvaccinated people.
BOOSTER SHOTS
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director General Eric Domingo said Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Sinovac, and Sputnik V have applied for amendment of their emergency use authorization (EUA) to include a third dose or booster to their regimen.
Domingo said the applications were submitted before the All Saints’ Day/All Souls’ Day holidays and are now undergoing review by the FDA.
Domingo said the Department of Health is also assessing the possible mix and match of vaccines or using a different brand for the booster or the third shot of those who received the AstraZeneca, Sinovac and Moderna vaccines.
The Health Technology Assessment Council previously recommended using the same or brand or different brand such as Pfizer for the third or booster shots of those who received AstraZeneca, Sinovac and Moderna vaccines but Galvez later said that the vaccine experts panel recommended using only the same brands of vaccine for those who received the three brands.
Domingo said the general trend around the world now is to administer a third shot or booster for vulnerable sectors such as the senior citizens, those with comorbidities or are immunocompromised, and the health workers.
He said even those who received the one-dose Janssen vaccine are being advised to receive a second shot if they belong to the vulnerable sector.
Domingo said the World Health Organization is expected to come up with a clearer guideline this week on the use of third or booster shots.
PEDIA JABS IN MALLS
Manila Mayor Isko Moreno said vaccination of minors aged 12 to 17 will be held in malls this weekend.
“We will be doing this in a bigger venue. We will do this in malls, so that their parents, or even grandparents, may roam around the malls together with the kids,” said Moreno in an interview with reporters.
He also said Manila has registered 53,325 minors for the vaccine as of Tuesday.
Moreno issued the announcement as hundreds of minors in Manila yesterday started availing of the COVID-19 vaccines in the six district hospitals designated as pediatric vaccination sites.
As of the latest data, 1,102 minors aged 12 to 17 have been vaccinated.
Designated as vaccination sites for minors are the Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center, Ospital ng Tondo, Jose Abad Santos General Hospital, Ospital ng Sampaloc, Ospital ng Maynila, and Sta. Ana Hospital.
Moreno said each of the six hospitals have been allotted 500 doses of vaccines for minors.
Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said they are looking at expanding the vaccination rollout further by including children aged 5 to 11 years.
She said the inoculation of those under 12 years is being eyed for next year.
Cabotaje said the vaccines to be used for the said age group will have to undergo the same process with all government agencies, including the FDA. — With Gerard Naval
