Marcos urges gov't for massive advocacy campaign on COVID vaccination

MINERVA BC NEWMAN

CEBU CITY – Senator Imee Marcos urged the government for a massive advocacy campaign to convince the Filipinos to get vaccinated or its mass vaccination program faces a major snag as the hesitancy rate for vaccination is still high among Filipinos.

“First order of business is to convince Filipinos to get vaccinated. Let’s make the best use of this endless vaccine delay and persuade our people, for their health and the safety of their family and friends, that they should get inoculated as quickly as possible with any FDA-approved vaccine.  Without a thorough information campaign preceding it, sayang lang (it will just go to waste)!” Marcos said.

 She noted that there is so much anxiety about side effects which are apparently rare and minimal - when the danger of infection is real and could be fatal and added that any vaccination effort will fail with 46 to 47 percent of Filipinos are skeptical or even against any COVID vaccines.

The high rate of vaccine hesitancy among Filipinos attended the arrival Sunday of the country’s first batch of 600,000 doses of Sinovac from China, as calls for more choices arose among health workers who are first in line to take the jab, Marcos said.

Vaccine hesitancy can complicate the storage and delivery of vaccines, resulting in higher costs or outright wastage.  A systematic registration process nationwide for willing vaccine recipients should already be in place, she explained.

Marcos added that the public is also at a loss on what benefits they are entitled to in case of injury or death. To elicit a more positive response to vaccination, the government must clarify its indemnification policy and how the Php500-million budget for this will be spent.

Marcos said the government’s information campaign can tap influencers from the health sector to showbiz, adding that the private sector can also be engaged to offer incentives to employees taking the jab, while respecting their freedom of choice. (Photos: DOH files)

 

 

“First order of business is to convince Filipinos to get vaccinated. Let’s make the best use of this endless vaccine delay and persuade our people, for their health and the safety of their family and friends, that they should get inoculated as quickly as possible with any FDA-approved vaccine.  Without a thorough information campaign preceding it, sayang lang (it will just go to waste)!” Marcos said.

 

She noted that there is so much anxiety about side effects which are apparently rare and minimal - when the danger of infection is real and could be fatal and added that any vaccination effort will fail with 46 to 47 percent of Filipinos are skeptical or even against any COVID vaccines.

 

The high rate of vaccine hesitancy among Filipinos attended the arrival Sunday of the country’s first batch of 600,000 doses of Sinovac from China, as calls for more choices arose among health workers who are first in line to take the jab, Marcos said.

 

Vaccine hesitancy can complicate the storage and delivery of vaccines, resulting in higher costs or outright wastage.  A systematic registration process nationwide for willing vaccine recipients should already be in place, she explained.

 

Marcos added that the public is also at a loss on what benefits they are entitled to in case of injury or death. To elicit a more positive response to vaccination, the government must clarify its indemnification policy and how the Php500-million budget for this will be spent.

 

Marcos said the government’s information campaign can tap influencers from the health sector to showbiz, adding that the private sector can also be engaged to offer incentives to employees taking the jab, while respecting their freedom of choice.