VACCINE hesitancy remains high among the poor, senior citizens and barangay health workers, which are all included in the priority sectors of the vaccination program of the government against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), National Task Force chief implementer and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said Wednesday night in a briefing with President Duterte.
Galvez said they need the help of President Duterte to convince the three sectors to be inoculated as the country still strives to vaccinate 50 million to 70 million adult Filipinos in the country within the year.
He said the NTF and the Interagency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases have been pressing the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and local government units (LGUs) to work double time to increase the people’s vaccine confidence as well as public uptake.
Galvez said an estimated 40 percent in the D and E classes do not want to be vaccinated, while those in the A, B, and C classes have a higher “uptake” on COVID-19 vaccines.
“Sa mga ibang LGU rin po, nakikita po natin ‘yon ang major challenge natin na pagka doon po sa tinatawag nating group D and E, mataas po ang hesitancy. Iyong A, B and C group po ng population ay mataas po ang uptake pero doon sa mga barangay at sa mga kaloob-looban ng mga congested area doon po tayo nahihirapan… more or less 40 percent parang ayaw pong magpabakuna (The major challenge in some LGUs is the high hesitancy rate among those in the D and E groups. The A, B groups have na high uptake, but we are having difficulties on those living in congested areas… more or less, 50 percent of them do not want to be vaccinated),” he said
Galvez also said that while 89.36 percent of healthcare workers in the country have already been vaccinated, hesitancy remains high among barangay health workers.
He likewise noted that only 11.9 percent of the target population of senior citizens and 18.59 percent of those with comorbidities have been inoculated.
Galvez stressed it is important to inoculate the senior citizens as 60 percent of the reported casualties in COVID-19 cases in the country are elders.
The government hopes to start the vaccination of government and economic frontliners (A4) and the indigent sector (A5) by June.
Vaccines are currently being administered on healthcare workers (A1 vaccination group), senior citizens (A2), with comorbidities (A3).
As of May 25, the government has administered 4.49 million doses of vaccines against COVID-19, composed of 3.46 million who received the first dose and 1.029 million who relieved the two doses.
Galvez said the government has so far received more than 8 million doses of vaccines. He said more than 12 million doses are expected to be delivered in June, including the 2.2 million doses of vaccine from Pfizer under the COVAX facility that was supposed to be delivered in May.
He said the delivery of the Pfizer vaccines was moved between June 7 to 11.
The country also expects the delivery of the first 1 million doses of Sinovac, from the 4.5 million doses due for next month, on June 6.
Moderna is expected to deliver 250,000 doses — including the 50,000 bought by the private sector – on June 21.
Also expected in June are the 2.3 million doses of AstraZeneca, which includes the 2 million under COVAX and the 1.3 million bought by the private sector; and 2 million doses from Gamaleya. Gamaleya is also expected to deliver 300,000 doses before the month ends.
Despite the availability of different brands of vaccine, President Duterte on Wednesday night reiterated the public cannot choose the brand that would be administered on them.
The President said it is “unacceptable” especially at this time when the supply is limited. He added that if one is allowed to be selective, it will agitate others who would then demand for the same brand which is limited.
Duterte said the Pfizer vaccine, acquired through the COVAX facility, will be distributed along with the vaccines from Sinovac, AstraZeneca, and Sputnik V.
He reiterated that all vaccines used by the country are safe and effective.
“Vaccine is vaccine, you cannot choose. If only Pfizer vaccines are available, okay. But Pfizer is just one of the variants that we are using…So there has to be equality. Equality means that, well, if we mix it, if by chance you are injected with Pfizer, you are lucky if that is the brand you want,” he said in Filipino.
A recent Social Weather Station survey showed that six out of 10 Filipinos prefer vaccines from the United States such as Pfizer.
NTF consultant Ted Herbosa said the country bought vaccines from seven companies not to provide the Filipinos with choices but to ensure that the country will have a supply of vaccine and all Filipinos would be vaccinated despite the global supply problem.
While it may be allowed soon, inoculating children aged 12 to 15 years old against COVID-19 may not happen soon, according to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III who admitted he is not keen on prioritizing minors in the national immunization program.
“They are not among the so-called high-risk groups. We cannot include them in the prioritization yet,” said Duque.
“We must follow the prioritization formula. Let us not veer away from that. Otherwise, we will fail to protect the most vulnerable sectors,” he added.
He stressed that this is because of the prevailing shortage of vaccine doses in the country.
“If there are enough supply, we won’t even talk about prioritization. The problem is that the supply is short, so we have to prioritize the vulnerable. Because we lack the supply, we really need to push for the prioritization of the Priority Groups A1 (healthcare workers), A2 (senior citizens), and A3 (people with comorbidities),” said Duque.
Instead of looking to vaccinate minors, the health chief said it would be better if inoculation of the priority groups, especially senior citizens, is hastened.
“We really need to inoculate our A2 sector. This is because this is where many of those hospitalized and fatalities come from due to complications of COVID-19. We want to avoid hospitalization and deaths so we have to vaccinate our senior citizens as soon as possible,” added Duque.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on Wednesday night, bared that pharmaceutical firm, Pfizer, has applied for an amendment in its emergency use authorization (EUA), seeking permission to have its COVID-19 vaccine used on children aged 12 to 15.
In a related development, Duque said they will order an investigation on the reported immunization of Chinese nationals in Pasay City. “Details of the report are still unclear. We will have that investigated,” he said.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, meanwhile, called for an international agreement that would recognize and accept all COVID-19 vaccine brands that are approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) for emergency use, amid concerns that some countries may require travelers to be inoculated with certain brands before they are allowed entry.
“Well, I think if a vaccine makes it to the WHO emergency use list, then we should not discriminate against or in favor of any of these vaccines in that list. And that’s why I think the direction we’re headed for is to come up with an international agreement recognizing all those in the WHO EU list as vaccines which would be sufficient to allow international travel,” he said.
Roque, in an interview with ABS CBN News channel, also warned that “vaccine apartheid” may result if some countries pushed for specific brands.
He said inclusion in the emergency listing of WHO means the vaccines are safe and effective.
“We can’t actually detach economic motivations behind the preference for vaccines. If the WHO says they’re all equally effective and safe, and yet you insist on specific brands, it must be because your country is manufacturing those brands and you’re marketing your brand. See, and that’s why it’s important to have an international agreement otherwise we have apartheid all over again,” he added.
Senator Chistopher Go, asked Duterte on Wednesday night, said overseas Filipino workers and seafarers who have existing contracts should be allowed to choose the vaccine brand that would be administered on them especially if the country where they will work requires it.
The President said that as much as he wants to go along with the idea, he expressed concerns that it might not go well with the rest of the population.
“When you begin to distribute the vaccine and let the people choose, it is not really a matter of where you are going. Some people will say ‘that is not our problem that they going somewhere’,” he said.
Roque said the President wants further study whether it is feasible to allow OFWs and the seafarers to choose the brands for themselves.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said 555,700 OFWs displaced by the pandemic have since returned to the country.
Roque confirmed that the President approved the release of an additional P5.2 billion for the repatriation and quarantine expenses of returning OFWs which would be spent on the hotel, transportation, and food expenses of returning OFWs while undergoing mandatory quarantine upon their return to the country.
He said this is about half of what the Overseas Filipino Welfare Administration (OWWA) asked but the government will find a way to fund the remainder of the budget requirement.
PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar yesterday said police probers are not in a rush to arrest and file charges against suspect in the sale vaccine and sale of vaccine slots in Mandaluyong City.
In a press briefing, Eleazar said investigators are still digging deeper into the case involving Kyle Bonifacio who surrendered to Metro Manila Development Authority chairman Benhur Abalos in Mandaluyong City on Wednesday.
Eleazar said the 25-year-old Bonifacio was allowed to go home after an initial investigation.
Eleazar said Bonifacio admitted to have facilitated or referred people for vaccination and got a reward for it. He claimed, though, that he was not aware if the people he referred were actually vaccinated.
Eleazar said the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the Mandaluyong city police station are on top of the investigation. — With Gerard Naval and Victor Reyes
