Deputy Speaker and Valenzuela City 2nd District Representative Eric Martinez urged the local government units (LGUs) and the private sector on Monday, October 18, to execute the daily vaccination rollout of one million Filipinos per day in order to quickly bolster the country’s economic activities and lessen the number of COVID-19 cases.

In light of the country’s ongoing economic recession, he stated how Indonesia was able to roll out an average of about 1,702,920 doses each day last week, which is over 1.3 million more than the Philippines’ 428,531. He had also stated that Indonesia’s daily average infection is decreasing with only 975 cases reported daily, just 2% of its highest daily average reported on July 18, compared with Philippines’ 8,437.

The Valenzuela City lawmaker stressed that “supply is no longer a problem” as the country’s vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said that the country has been receiving an average of 1.5 million vaccines per day, with more than 14 million doses shipped to the country in the first week of October. 

“This is the time that we ramp up our vaccination, with both the public and private sectors heavily involved,” Martinez said, confident that his proposal is considered doable given that the Philippines has reached a steady supply of one million doses a day. He added that based on government reports, the country has a current stock of 30 million doses.

Martinez reiterated that there is no room for so-called “vaccination hesitancy” and the need for further economic mobility in areas like the National Capital Region (NCR) and the urban areas of CALABARZON, Panay, Cebu, and Davao, thus, urging its government to bolster information and dissemination in order to further encourage its people to be vaccinated as soon as possible. 

Photo Credit: Facebook/EricMartinez