Amid the so-called “inflection point” in the country’s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) inoculation drives, the National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19 pushes for “more convenient” and “more accessible” vaccination programs in the Philippines.

 “Nagf-flaten na ‘yung curve natin sa numero ng nababakunahan. Either makumbinsi pa natin ‘yung 10 percent na ayaw magpabakuna na magpabakuna na or gawan natin ng ibang paraan like mas agresibong house-to-house [vaccination] (Our curve in the number of vaccinated people is flattening. It is either we convince the remaining 10 percent unvaccinated to get inoculated or we can do it another way like a more aggressive house-to-house vaccination),” said NTF medical adviser Dr. Teodoro “Ted” Herbosa in an interview over DWIZ on Tuesday, Feb. 22.

The “low turnout” of vaccinations in the country, according to Herbosa, is associated with the inflection point in COVID-19 vaccination.

The statement came after vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez, during the “Talk To The People” public briefing on Monday, Feb. 21, said that the daily vaccination output of the Philippines has been “dramatically reduced” from one million to 500,000.

“As it is, kung uupo lang tayo sa vaccination center ay wala nang dadating. Although marami pa ring nagpapabakuna, hindi lang kasing bilis ng dati (As it is, if we just sit in the vaccination center, no one will come. Many are still getting vaccinated, but it is not as fast as before),” he added.

Meanwhile, to address this conflict, Herbosa disclosed that the country’s pandemic task force provides accessible and convenient vaccination programs in the Philippines.

“Ginagawa ng NTF na mas convenient yung magpabakuna. Pati mga [fast-food restaurants] ay ginagamit na namin, pati mga botika ay ginagamit na rin namin. Meron na rin tayong mga mobile bus vaccination na pumupunta [sa mga malalayong lugar] (NTF makes it more convenient to get vaccinated. We use fast-food restaurants, we use pharmacies. We also have mobile vaccination buses that go to remote areas),” said Herbosa.

The Department of Health’s (DOH) National COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard showed that as of Feb. 9, a total of 60,013,407 individuals in the Philippines have been fully immunized against COVID-19.

Source:
courtesy of MANILA BULLETIN

by Charie Mae F. Abarca

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