A bill which makes COVID-19 vaccination mandatory to all those eligible to receive it has been filed at the House of Representatives.
House Bill 10249, authored by San Jose del Monte City Rep. Florida Robes, also provides that all expenses for the COVID-19 vaccines shall be fully subsidized by the government.
Private companies may also procure vaccines for their employees as long as they are given for free to their employees.
Robes said the World Health Organization has repeatedly declared that vaccines are one of the most effective tools for protecting people against COVID-19 and that it can be considered ethically justified to impose mandatory inoculation to protect the health and well-being of the public.
She said the Philippines has also been implementing a mandatory vaccination program for infants and children.
“We have Republic Act 10152 which is an act providing for the mandatory basic immunization services for infants and children and Republic Act 7846 which requires compulsory immunization against Hepatitis-B for infants and children below eight (8) years old,” she said.
“In the face of worldwide pandemic that is ravaging our country, it is crucial to implement a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination program for people who are eligible to get the vaccines in order to protect ourselves and our families but enable us to regain our economic foothold and resume our lives,” added Robes.
Her bill, however, exempts persons with conflicting religious belief or with medical conditions that would make vaccination detrimental to one’s health as certified by a duly licensed physician.
It likewise provides an anti-discrimination clause which prohibits discrimination against those who refuse to get vaccinated for religious belief or health reasons.
Those who have no valid reason to refuse vaccination shall be imposed a penalty of imprisonment of up to 30 days or a fine of P10,000 or both.
Earlier, National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said the government is eyeing mandatory vaccination for all Filipinos, but the decision still depends on the vaccine supply and the passage of a law that would serve as its legal basis.
“We see that based on the data, 85 percent of Filipinos who test positive for COVID are unvaccinated, and majority if not all of the patients who are critical or are intubated are also unvaccinated,” Galvez said.
NTF spokesman Restituto Padilla said a major factor is the vaccine supply.
“We have not reached a decision yet. We will also likely need a legal basis for this,” Padilla said.
The government aims to vaccinate up to 70 million people before the end of the year to achieve herd immunity.
President Rodrigo Duterte said if the vaccine supply becomes stable, vaccinating the general adult population may begin next month.