Amid an unsettling surge in coronavirus infections this month, Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte has called on implementers of the government’s vaccination program to exert their best effort to accelerate the rollout of the anti-Covid jabs, more so now when the World Health Organization (WHO) itself has observed an increasing public acceptance of the vaccines.
“Given the week-long rollout of the Covid-19 shots and WHO’s perception of a supposedly decreasing vaccine hesitancy among the public, I am appealing to the implementers of our coronavirus immunization program to exert their best effort in fast-tracking the uptake, more so now with the unsettling surge in coronavirus caseload over the past two weeks,” Villafuerte said.
Villafuerte issued the statement over the weekend as no less than Health Secretary Francisco Duque III admitted the slow start of the vaccine rollout.
Duque was reported as saying that the actual rollout was “short” as the initial vaccinees–the frontline health workers–were given a choice of whether to be inoculated with the Sinovac or AstraZeneca vaccines, and that the waiting time for observing the adverse symptoms on the injected people took much of the time during the immunization process.
“A faster program rollout has become more urgent with this March’s rise in Covid-19 infections in Metro Manila and other parts of the country, and which experts have traced to the emergence of new, and seemingly more infectious and deadlier forms of the coronavirus.”
Experts consider a possible second wave of coronavirus infections is now underway as the Philippines reported over 5,000 cases over the weekend–the highest since the country was placed under a second general community quarantine in August last year–amid the rise of new Covid-19 variants.
The OCTA Research Group fret that if the current reproduction rate continuous, the country might report up to 8,000 new cases daily by end-March and a much higher 18,000 to 20,000 by mid-April. OCTA research fellow Guido David was quoted in the media as saying the daily cases in Metro Manila might reach 6,000 by the end of the month and 14,000 by the middle of April.
Villafuerte said “a faster rollout of the Covid-19 jabs with the arrival of more vaccines in the weeks and months ahead will keep on track Malacañang’s target to inoculate about 70 million Filipinos—representing 100% of the country’s adult population—before the year is over.”
Apart from letting Filipinos achieve “herd immunity’ as soon as possible, he said a much faster vaccine rollout would likewise boost business confidence and household consumption, which, in turn, would hasten the recovery of the domestic economy from the pandemic-driven global recession.
He said a faster program rollout has become more urgent with this March’s rise in Covid-19 infections in Metro Manila and other parts of the country, and which experts have traced to the emergence of new, and seemingly more infectious and deadlier forms of the coronavirus such as the United Kingdom (UK) and South African variants.
Villafuerte stressed that inoculation program implementers should seize on the opportunity to speed up the uptake of anti-Covid shots following the observation by WHO Representative to the Philippines Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe that a growing number of Filipinos are now willing to get the jabs.
Abeyasinghe said in a recent briefing that this is similar to what happened in other countries that have started their own inoculation drives.
The WHO executive was quoted by the media as saying that: “What we have seen in other countries, as vaccines are introduced, the uptake among the population has been increasing. The Philippines is no different …. Initial apprehension among the population on the safety and efficacy of the vaccines is now clearly declining. Vaccine hesitancy is decreasing and more people want access to the vaccine.”
The Department of Health (DOH) has reported that as of last weekend, more than 35,000 healthcare workers have taken their shots in 169 vaccination sites nationwide, with the deployment of more than 460,000 vaccine doses from Sinovac Biotech and AstraZeneca.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., who is chief implementer of the National Task Force against Covid-19 (NTF), also confirmed the increasing public acceptance of the vaccines in his report to President Duterte during the latter’s latest televised address, with more hospitals now asking for additional doses.
Galvez told the President during the televised briefing that the government has thus far received a total of 1,125,600 vaccine doses from Sinovac and AstraZeneca, and expects to get an additional 20 million doses from various suppliers over the April-June 2021 period.
“Apart from letting Filipinos achieve herd immunity as soon as possible, a much faster vaccine rollout would likewise boost business confidence and household consumption.”
Villafuerte said a nationwide information campaign is needed at this point to send the right message across to the people that vaccines are safe, would best protect them from this highly contagious coronavirus, and let the government fully reopen the economy, which, in turn, would spur a quick recovery from the global economic chaos unleashed by Covid-19.
“The primacy of a nationwide public information drive and an LGU (local government unit) training project at this time when the government has started its mass immunization program in the face of an infection surge, is the best reason for the House leadership to set aside Cha-Cha (Charter-change initiative) and instead prod House members to work on helping LGUs implement the inoculation project in their respective districts,” Villafuerte said.
Villafuerte said Cha-Cha would only polarize the country at this point when national unity in fighting Covid-19 is of paramount importance, as shown by the opposition to Cha-Cha by 10 business groups led by the Makati Business Club (MBC) and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), along with Catholic Church leaders, during the public hearings of the House constitutional amendments committee on this issue.
He said “the House leadership should realize its misplaced priorities and quit the Cha-Cha initiative, in favor of legislators devoting their time and attention to helping educate their respective constituents on the need for them to be immunized against the deadly virus that causes Covid-19.
For Villafuerte, House members should work with local elective officials in their respective congressional districts to inform their constituents that the vaccines are safe, would protect them against the deadly virus amid the prolonged pandemic, and would be the only way for the government to fully reopen the economy and steer it to a quick and strong recovery.
Villafuerte earlier called on immunization program implementers to focus on the fast-track training of personnel at the local government level on the proper storage, handling and administration of the highly temperature-sensitive vaccine doses to avoid drug wastage and keep on track the government target to inoculate 70 million Filipino adults by end-December 2021.
On top of mounting a nationwide information campaign to encourage people to get inoculated against the deadly Covid-19, he said the government should also ensure that the staff handling the vaccines in the communities are familiar with the hierarchy of priorities on who should get the vaccines; how these doses should be stored, especially in localities where there are no available cold storage facilities; and how to properly administer the shots to the target-beneficiaries.
“In CamSur, we already have a list of the priority beneficiaries across the province as well as the list of frontliners who are to administer the vaccines,” said Villafuerte, who was once CamSur governor. “But our frontliners need to be properly trained on how to administer the shots. LGU staff should also be trained on the proper storage of the meds. Another thing is that there are certain municipalities that have no adequate cold storage facilities to keep the vaccines.”
Villafuerte said the government needs to draw up and implement down to the cities and municipalities the guidelines on the safe and effective transport, storage and administration of the Covid-19 vaccines.
While Metro Manila LGUs appear to be fully prepared for the vaccine rollout, certain municipalities in provinces like Camarines Sur lack cold storage facilities required to properly keep the vaccine doses, said Villafuerte.