SENATOR Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go, called on the government to initiate house-to-house (H2H) vaccination and expand those giving anti-COVID shots to Filipinos to include pharmacies and clinics in order to improve the country’s vaccination rate and hasten the country’s return to the ‘new’ normal.
“Para maisagawa ito, hihilingin ko sa national government na palawakin pa ang pagbabakuna sa mga pharmacies and medical clinics. Dapat ding magtalaga ng vaccination sites at araw ng pagbabakuna para sa booster shots,” said Go, who is also chair of the Senate Committee on Health.
Go made the call as cases of COVID-19 infections continue to ease down with most of the country, particularly Metro Manila, to be placed under ‘Alert Level 1’ starting this March.
“Kailangan ding palakasin ng pamahalaan ang pagpapalaganap ng mga impormasyon tungkol sa importansya ng booster shot para sa pangmatagalan at dagdag na proteksyon laban sa COVID-19,” Go said.
“Ngayong unti-unti na tayong nagbubukas ng ekonomiya, dapat na mas maraming manggagawa ang mabakunahan para ligtas sila sa pagbabalik-trabaho, gayundin ang mga estudyante para mas maraming paaralan ang makapagdaos ng face-to-face classes,” he added.
The government, thru the National Task Force Against COVID-19 seeks to administer some 72.16 million doses in ‘booster shots’ to the country’s adult population and to vaccinate the remaining 3 million senior citizens and individuals with co-morbidities.
The senator particularly asked local government units to further strengthen their mobile and house-to-house vaccination drives in a bid to hasten the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.
“Hinihikayat ko rin ang mga local government units na lalong pasiglahin ang kanilang ginagawang mobile and house-to-house vaccination efforts.
“Gaya nang sinabi ko noon, kayo na mismo ang sumundo at maghatid sa inyong constituents na walang kakayahang magpunta sa vaccination sites,” he said.
As of February 24, the country has already administered a total of 135,251,295 vaccine doses. Around 63.01 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated while 62.18 million have received their first dose.
More than 10.04 million booster shots have also been administered as the country has thus far received a total of 225,117,030 vaccines.
While expressing relief over the declining COVID-19 cases in the country, Go reminded the public anew to get vaccinated, stressing it is the “key” to ending the pandemic.
“Hindi ako napapagod sa pagpapaalala sa ating mga kababayan na ang bakuna ang tanging solusyon laban sa pandemya—dahil nakikita naman natin ang magandang resulta,” stressed Go.
He also reassured the Filipino people that his office will continue to serve communities hit by the pandemic by providing them much needed support and assistance.