"Where is the urgency?"
"Where is the urgency?"
President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly said that for the country, the only solution to this #COVID19 pandemic is having our people vaccinated. One would think that the whole of government will act with a great sense of urgency so Filipinos are inoculated as fast as possible. After all, if this virus is contained, fewer people will die, and the earlier we will be able to start picking up the pieces and hit that restart button.
Yet, according to herdimmunity.ph, to date, the vaccine rollout in the Philippines in terms of number of doses administered per 100 people, is the third SLOWEST in the ASEAN.
Consider these data as of 11 May: number of fully vaccinated Filipinos -517,113 or 0.48 percent of the population, and 0.74 percent of 70 million herd immunity target; average daily vaccinations—68,119. At this rate, it will take 5.5 years (November 2026) to fully vaccinate 70 million Filipinos or achieve herd immunity.
Our current supply of vaccines stands at 7,779,050 doses. This is enough to fully vaccinate 3.58 percent of the population or 5.56 percent of the target 70M. Of the total supply, 32.68% have been administered and 67.32% are still in storage. Again, more than 67 percent of received vaccines are yet to be administered to our people! Why are those involved in our vaccine rollout program taking their sweet time in dispatching the lifesaving vaccines? Where is the urgency? Worse, 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca that arrived on May 8 are set to expire by June 30. The DOH must ensure that these 1.5 million doses are not wasted.
Many local government units are waiting for supplies. No wonder, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno has been complaining about the slow action by the Department of Health (DOH). It will be remembered that Manila City was among the fastest in terms of inoculating its residents.
Again, according to herdimmunity.ph, to achieve the DOH goal of herd immunity by December 2021, we need to administer 613,651 vaccine doses daily, or nine (9) times our current rate.
With the recent easing of quarantine restrictions in the Greater Metro Manila area (including Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, and Bulacan), we can expect more people going out to attend to their businesses. Not only should everyone adhere to protocols, the government must act with dispatch in terms of vaccination.
The best way to inoculate people is to go where they are. Government must find ways to make getting the vaccine convenient especially for people who are without means to travel far. We have to remember that per conducted surveys, vaccine acceptance is quite low. Outside of logistical problems, we need to address vaccine hesitancy. Traveling long distances to get inoculated is a big disincentive for ordinary people. There is much to do to convince people to get the vaccine and doing this in communities they are familiar with will help.
Thus, vaccination should mostly be community-based. This will not require building new infrastructure and there is no need to reinvent the wheel. The LGUs have been using schools, covered courts, even sports arenas as vaccination centers. These just need to be further expanded.
Even congested areas in Metro Manila have covered courts mostly attached to their barangay halls. Many schools have yet to be used. Gated villages have their clubhouses that can be used for their residents. Big barangay health centers are good vaccination sites because people are quite familiar with them. Public parks can have areas for vaccination.
LGUs can negotiate with owners of private sites such as sports arenas (similar to what Quezon City did with Araneta Coliseum), more malls, and private schools. DOH can enter into partnerships with big corporations to inoculate their personnel. Indeed, there are many ways to make vaccination accessible and more convenient to people if only the government were more creative and responsive. Outside of vaccine supply, LGUs will probably need assistance in terms of personnel. This is where DOH should come in.
People say that some vaccines like Pfizer and Moderna need very cold storage and many localized vaccination centers may not be equipped for them. This is also true and for these vaccines, perhaps the mega vaccination facilities like the one yet to be constructed in Nayong Pilipino can be used. Per reports, the IATF for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases already approved the project on April 10. The Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the DOH and International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) Foundation of business tycoon Enrique Razon is almost ready for signing. ICTSI will fully fund this project. The only remaining concern would be when the facility will be ready for use.
Although Razon said that the area is accessible because it is connected with SLEX and near CAVITEX and the roads are wide, those who don’t have cars especially from northern Metro Manila areas will have difficulty going there. The location will serve those from the south well. As Razon also said, there should be similar facilities in other areas but hopefully, no construction will be needed because time is of the essence.
There is no question that the government needs to fast track vaccination rollout. Our people urgently need protection. We cannot continue to lose our loved ones to COVID-19. We need to continue with our lives and this can only happen when we achieve herd immunity. Government needs to act purposefully and with a great sense of urgency.
@bethangsioco on Twitter Elizabeth Angsioco on Facebook