Vulnerable persons to get jabs at home on nat’l vax days: DILG

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INTERIOR Secretary Eduardo Año yesterday said authorities will visit senior citizens and persons with comorbidities to vaccinate them against COVID-19 during the November 29 to December 1 national vaccination days.

Año, a key member of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), said it is important to reach these people because they belong to the vulnerable sector.

“That’s part of the orders we gave — locate our seniors, the super seniors who cannot go out of their residences and those with comorbidities. Let’s bring the vaccines to them, conduct house-to-house (visits),” said Año.

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“There are many people with comorbidities who don’t want to go out of their residence because they are not in good health condition. Even if they want to get vaccinated, they can’t because of the many risks. So these are the people we will locate,” said Año.

The government declared November 29 and 30 and December 31 as vaccination days as it continues to ramp up its vaccination program. The Department of Health is looking to inoculate at least 77 million Filipinos by the end of the year.

“The LGUs (local government units) will conduct house-to-house to vaccinate the super seniors and those with comorbidities because they are vulnerable,” said Año.

“Even if we complete the vaccination in the country, if they are not vaccinated, we will have casualties or mortality. So it’s important to save them, those in the priority (sector),” he added.

DOH records show some 4.97 million of the 8.25 million senior citizens are fully inoculated while 7.76 million of the 9 million people with comorbidities are also fully jabbed.

Senior citizens belong to the A2 priority group in the government’s national vaccination drive, and persons with comorbidities are under the A3 sector. A1 is composed of medical frontliners.

The Food and Drug Administration Director General Eric Domingo said government has inoculated some 400,000 children aged between 12 and 17 years, and a handful experienced adverse effects following immunization (AEFIs).

“For Pfizer, about nine had allergies and hyperventilated but recovered after a day. For Moderna, only one had a side effect of body pains that is very mild,” said Domingo.

At least 12.7 million children and adolescents in the age group 12 to 17 years are targeted by the government.

As of November 12, some 31.36 million adults have been fully vaccinated while about 37.67 million have received their first dose.

At least 1.6 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are set to arrive today, raising the total vaccines delivered to the country to 124.6 million doses.

Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega said vaccine has gone down to 10-15 percent since March 1 this year when the national vaccination drive was launched.

“When we started the vaccination rollout, the vaccine hesitancy was at 35 percent. Many are adopting the ‘watch and wait’ stance. They want to see first if the vaccine is safe and effective,” said Vega in a radio interview. “But, as we move along through the months, their numbers decreased. Vaccine hesitancy went down to 10 to 15 percent.”

Vega said majority of 10 to 15 percent believe the “vaccine can harm them.”

Año said the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines has committed to help convince people to get vaccinated.

“Many of the religious leaders who we have talked to will help in the vaccination, in convincing people in their areas to get vaccinated,” he said.

Año said the PNP, Armed Force, the Bureau of Fire Protection, and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology will maximize their resources to ensure observance of health protocols during the national vaccination days.

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Año also said government agencies and local government units continue to prepare for the three-day event, like on putting up more vaccination sites, deploying additional vaccinators, and sending out vehicles to transport people who want to be vaccinated.

“We need to observe physical distancing and prevent this from turning into spreader events,” he said.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) said medical and nursing students can now be tapped as vaccinators, after it signed with the Department of Health (DOH) joint memorandum circular titled, “Interim Guidelines on the Voluntary Participation of Postgraduate and Undergraduate Interns, Clinical Clerks, and Fourth Year Nursing Students in the COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment and Vaccination Program.”

Under the guidelines, the students can volunteer as health screeners, vaccinators, and pre- and post-vaccination monitors under the supervision of licensed physicians and nurses.

“The post-graduate and undergraduate interns, clinical clerks and fourth year nursing students who will volunteer will be trained and supervised by health professionals.” said CHED chairman Prospero de Vera. — With Gerard Naval, Noel Talacay and Jocelyn Montemayor

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