The Commission on Human Rights lauds the efforts of several local government units (LGUs), which proactively worked to address vaccine hesitancy and encourage individuals to be inoculated against Covid-19 through vaccination drives and information campaigns.
A non-commissioned Social Weather Stations survey recently revealed that only 3 out of 10 adult Filipinos are willing to be vaccinated months into the national vaccine rollout. While these numbers are worrying, the Commission takes great solace in the efforts of several LGUs that have sought to ensure that vaccines remain accessible to the public through vaccination drives and information dissemination campaigns to address vaccine hesitancy and common vaccine misconceptions.
The right to information to matters of public concern is crucially linked to the realisation of an individual’s right to health in times of a pandemic. Enabling individuals to make sound decisions based on facts is the right way to decrease vaccine hesitancy among the public. A testament to the importance of information dissemination is the high vaccine acceptance rate amongst constituents in Iloilo City. The success of their vaccine rollout shows how well-informed individuals are in the best position to make decisions on their health and well-being.
In ensuring accessibility of vaccines and equitability in distribution, the actions of several LGUs are also laudable in ensuring that individuals in priority groups are not disenfranchised in receiving their doses. The launch of Quezon, Rizal, and Borongan City’s drive-thru Covid-19 vaccination sites, and Manila and Taguig City’s house house-to-house vaccination for bedridden residents, among others, go a long way in helping curb Covid-19 transmission and keeping number of cases down.
LGUs, such as the Quezon and Manila City government, in the past days, have posted record-breaking vaccination numbers of 16,649 and 22,066 respectively. As we continue to fight this pandemic, every effort counts towards encouraging more people to get vaccinated while helping fight misinformation that leads to increased vaccine hesitancy.
With vaccination drives currently underway in various LGUs, we ask that individuals involved in the sale of vaccine slots to immediately desist from doing so. Individuals excluded from the priority list that jump the vaccination queue by selling and purchasing vaccine slots, not only violates the principle of equitable vaccine distribution, they also compromise the country’s obligation under the COVAX agreement to provide free and succeeding vaccine allocations for agreed upon groups.
As the government will start vaccinating qualified individuals under the A4 priority group, we ask the Covid-19 Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases to look into and consider the proposal of NCR Mayors to include work-from-home employees in the A4 category, especially those that may be required to physically report to work.
Protecting public health in times of a pandemic is an utmost priority that requires the cooperation of not just the government agencies but also of individuals. Hence, we remind the public to remain vigilant and continue to exercise health precautions to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Through this, we can help continue sustaining the positive developments in our country’s vaccination efforts.
The positive developments in the national vaccination rollout is a welcome development—one we hope we can all sustain and possibly replicate in other areas in the country as we ensure #Vaccine4All and target herd immunity. ###