The National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 is addressing vaccine hesitancy among village health workers, persons with comorbidities, and senior citizens, particularly in poor communities.
NTF Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said while some 90 percent of the country’s healthcare workers have been vaccinated, hesitancy among village health workers remains high.
“We are really trying to increase the vaccine confidence in our public uptake,” he said in Filipino during a public briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday night.
More senior citizens should also be urged to get vaccinated as 60 percent of Covid-19 fatalities belong to their sector.
Only 11 percent of the elderly have so far been vaccinated, Galvez said.
Galvez encouraged the Department of the Interior and Local Government and local government units to further boost vaccine confidence.
“Dapat po mahikayat po natin ‘yung ating mga senior citizens at saka mga people with comorbidities na magkaroon po talaga ng lakas na magkaroon talaga ng bakuna (We should encourage our senior citizens and people with comorbidities to have themselves vaccinated),” he said.
The vaccine czar noted that residents in poor communities are hesitant to get vaccinated.
“Ang major challenge natin po sa tinatawag nating group D and E, mataas po ang hesitancy (Vaccine hesitancy among group D and E classes is our major problem),” he said, noting that about 40 percent of the population refused to avail of vaccination.
Galvez said the higher “uptake” on coronavirus vaccines is seen among those who belong to the socio-economic classes A, B, and C.
“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 ng mga tinatawag natin na ‘yung more or less 40 percent or sa 40 percent parang ayaw pong magpabakuna (Those in the A, B, and C groups have a high uptake, but those in barangays in the innermost congested areas, that’s where we’re having a hard time that more or less 40 percent apparently don’t want to be vaccinated),” he said.
To address the issue, the Department of Health continues to lead town hall meetings with the help of the private sector.
The government is currently vaccinating health workers, senior citizens and persons with comorbidities.
Once the vaccine supply is steady, inoculation for other government essential and economic workers as well as the indigent population will begin.
The Philippines has breached its target of a million Covid-19 vaccine shots administered per week and aims to reach between four and five million doses per month starting June.
The country is averaging 237,984 jabs daily and 1,168,030 weekly from May 17 to 23.
