BY JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR and VICTOR REYES
AT least 2.55 million Filipinos received their jabs against COVID-19 on Monday, the start of the three-day “Bayanihan, Bakunahan” vaccination drive, officials said yesterday.
Government expects the figure to rise after local government units (LGUs) nationwide submit their data to the National Vaccination Operations Center, including those in far-flung areas and areas with slow internet connection.
The target for the three days is to vaccinate nine million to 10 million individuals. A second “Bayanihan, Bakunahan’’ event will be held from December 15 to 17, with the same target.
Carlito Galvez, vaccine czar and chief of the National Task Force against coronavirus disease (NTF), said while the government has to reach the target, the first day of Bayanihan could still be considered successful as many of the vaccinees were first-dose recipients.
Galvez renewed calls for the people to be vaccinated.
“Getting vaccinated is the best gift that you can give to yourself and to your loved ones this Christmas, especially with the threat of the Omicron variant,” he said.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, a member of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), said he is satisfied with the turnout of the first day of the vaccination, though the number fell short of the daily target of three million vaccinees.
“We reached 2.55 million. That’s a big number,” he said.
“Hopefully we can surpass this number (on the second and third days) because we made adjustments due to slight problems that we encountered on the first day,” Año said.
Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje, chief of the National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC), said the 2,554,023 individuals vaccinated on the first day “is 2.5 times our average of 1 million” and put the Philippines “on the Top 5 spot worldwide in terms of the number of jabs administered in a single day.”
The Top 4 are China (22 million), India (10 million), United States (3.48 million), and Brazil (2.6 million).
As to falling short of the daily target, Cabotaje said this is due to the inability of some vaccination sites to handle walk-ins, and some other vaccination sites were unable to jab minors because of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were not available.
The Muntinlupa City government said its reached its daily target of 5,000 to 8,000 residents as it vaccinated 7,287 individuals on the first day of Bakunahan.
Año said among problems authorities faced on the first day of the vaccination program was the surge of people in vaccination sites. He said some were not accommodated for vaccination.
“Many went for walk-in vaccination, that’s why we are going to make adjustments so we can transfer them to nearby vaccination sites that are not overwhelmed,” said Año.
“There were vaccination areas that were overwhelmed but in general the turnout was good… There were no reports of spreader events,” he said.
Año said personnel from the PNP, local government units and other government agencies “were able to control the situation” in the vaccination sites.
“We will make sure that if there will be surge of people, they will be immediately transferred to nearby vaccination sites. At the same time, we will be prepared for walk-ins,” he said.
NTF spokesman Restituto Padilla Jr. said among challenges encountered on the first day of Bayanihan is that vaccination sites turned away unregistered individuals or walk-ins, those who not have required documents and IDs, or individuals whose preferred vaccine brand was not available.
Galvez and Padilla told the LGUs and those overseeing the operations of the vaccination centers to accept walk-ins and just prepare another lane for them, while those planning to walk in, especially with their children aged between 12 to 17 years, were reminded to bring documents such as birth certificates, ID cards, and medical certificates, if applicable.
Año commended LGUs and national government agencies for the good turnout last Monday.
He also credited mayors who gave incentives like snacks and raffle prizes, to convince people to get vaccinated.
WHO Representative to the Philippines Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe asked the government to address some issues observed during Day 1 of Bayanihan, like incidents of overcrowding in vaccination sites.
“In many places, there was overcrowding in the vaccination centers. We need to try to minimize this. So we need better crowd control in those places,” he said.
He also noted the absence of priority lanes for the elderly and the people with comorbidities in vaccination sites.
“We need to try to do this because the maximum impact and benefit of the vaccination is if we can provide access to the vaccines to these groups of people,” said Abeyasinghe.
MANDATORY VACCINATION
Año urged LGUs to pass ordinances or issue executive orders to make vaccination against COVID-19 mandatory in their areas.
Año said the LGUs have the power to mandate vaccination under the Local Government Code.
He said President Duterte wants mandatory vaccination amid the looming threat of the new Omicron variant of COVID-19.
“That is what the President wants but we have no law for that. Our (COVID-19) vaccination law did not say it’s mandatory. So the President said he may use his police power, being the Chief Executive, but that will be when Omicron enters the country. As of now, I don’t think he will not impose that,” said Año.
But Año said LGUs and local chief executives have the power under the Local Government Code to compel their constituents to get themselves vaccinated.
“We encourage the LGUs to issue executive orders and pass ordinances. That’s within their powers as local chief executives,” said Año, adding he will support the LGUs and local officials if they decide for a mandatory vaccination in their areas.
President Duterte, during his Talk to the People address on Monday night, told the public that they would likely live longer if they are vaccinated against COVID-19 as they would be protected against the severe form of infection and complications.
He reiterated that vaccination is a public health issue and he may agree with the IATF if it decides to make immunization mandatory to protect public health. He said vaccination is also already mandatory in some countries.
“There is no problem if you refused to be vaccinated. Just do not leave your house. If you get infected you can also infect others),” he said in Filipino.
Cabinet secretary and acting presidential spokesman Karlo Nograles yesterday said Malacañang is leaving it to Congress to decide whether to pass a law that would make the COVID-19 vaccination mandatory.
Nograles said as far as IATF is concerned, it will continue with its discussions and consultations with legal experts about whether to make the inoculation mandatory or not, while sustaining the current vaccination program.
He asked the unvaccinated to take advantage of the Bayanihan, Bakunahan program.
Nograles said if the people are cooperative, there may no longer be a need to make the vaccination mandatory.
As of November 29, at least of 83.85 million doses of vaccines have been administered nationwide, with 36 million Filipinos fully vaccinated or have received two doses.
Año said there is a need for a mandatory vaccination as he expressed belief that Omicron, which was discovered in South Africa, will not be the last COVID-19 variant that will threaten the country and the world
He also said the movement of people who refuse to get vaccinated should be restricted.
“They should not be allowed to areas where they are not supposed to be. If they want to go there, they should be required to present negative RT-PCR test to ensure they are not infected,” said Año, referring to unvaccinated people.
Asked if unvaccinated people can go to the market to buy food, Año just said they can ask other family members, who are vaccinated, to do such chores.
“Our question is why do they not want to get vaccinated… It (vaccines) is for free,” he said.
“That is also for their own safety especially there is the Omicron variant that is threatening us. It’s important that our countrymen are vaccinated,” Ano also said. — With Gerard Naval and Noel Talacay
