OVER 33 million people have registered with their local governments to get vaccinated against Covid-19, but majority of them have not been inoculated due to the lack of supplies.
But Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said local governments are innovating and seem to be outperforming each other in encouraging their constituents to get jabbed through perks and incentives such as raffle prizes of motorcycles and even a house and lot for those who have had their anti-COVID-19 doses.
He said the large number of people who registered for vaccination was due to the joint government and private sector information and advocacy campaign, including the creative ways devised by the local government to persuade them to sign up for vaccination.
“Nakakatuwa ang mga paraan at pakulo ng mga LGUs para lang maeng-ganyo ang lahat na magpa-rehistro at magpa-bakuna. Only through vaccination will we reach that certain level of population protection that will allow us to transition into the new normal and completely recover from the pandemic,” he said.
Año said he is pleased that vaccine hesitancy is continuously decreasing as seen in the increasing number of people who have enlisted for vaccination because of the government vaccination campaign. “Instead of vaccine hesitancy, we would prefer vaccine envy among LGUs and the public so that they would be more motivated to increase their vaccination efforts,” he said.
He even cited the raffle scheme of Las Piñas Rep. Camille Villar where vaccinated persons have a chance to win motorcycles and a brand-new house and lot. He also lauded the initiative of Mayor Jesus Bueno Jr., of Santa town in Ilocos Sur who offers house and lot as a prize to vaccinated locals.
Año said some local governments in Abra also offer drive-thru vaccination, fast lanes for persons with disabilities, free antipyretics, and free rides to vaccination sites, free meals, and snacks. In Davao Region, he added, malls were tapped as vaccination sites in the cities of Davao and Tagum and free transportation was provided.
Zamboanga City Mayor Beng Climaco also offered free rides to vaccination centers to all senior citizens and people with disabilities.
The Department of Health also continues to encourage the public to get inoculated against the deadly respiratory disease, but the government cannot provide the needed vaccines to everybody and this is aggravated by reports of preferential treatment where other provinces or regions get more than what others are receiving.
Across Mindanao, residents are flocking to vaccination sites, but many of those who registered with health centers or through the Internet have not received any schedule for their inoculation. Some have waited for months, but until now did not get any reply from the government. And others had claimed unequal distribution of the vaccines or favoritism, nepotism and undue influence and even bribery in the mass vaccination program.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the government is eyeing to administer 8-10 million vaccine doses this July. He said over 13.3 million doses of various vaccines are expected to be delivered to the country this month.
He said some 10 million vaccine doses have been administered nationwide with more than 2.5 million getting the full dose. The Philippines has over 110 million populations and is lagging behind some Southeast Asian countries in vaccine procurement.
According to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes, with vaccines being approved for use in different parts of the globe, the scale and complexity of their manufacture, allocation and distribution globally will be unprecedented.
It said this will also present corruption risks that may threaten vital public health goals. These risks include the entry of substandard and falsified vaccines into markets, theft of vaccines within the distribution systems, leakages in emergency funding designated for the development and distribution of vaccines, nepotism, favouritism, and corrupted procurement systems.
“These corruption risks must be identified and mitigated by public institutions to help advance access to safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines by the population, including the most vulnerable and marginalized groups,” it said. (Mindanao Examiner)
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