Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 5) — The Department of Health confirmed talks are ongoing to mandate COVID-19 vaccination for specific sectors, but it is only the government’s last option to reach herd immunity.
Health spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said the agency is in favor of making it mandatory for vulnerable sectors and people-centric jobs.
“Definitely if we are going to have this as mandated, it’s for specific sectors only. DOH will also support this so we can achieve the population protection,” she said in a media briefing.
The official acknowledged it will be an uphill battle because a law needs to be passed before it can be mandated. She assured other sectors will be consulted to ensure it will be an inclusive policy.
“Kailangan talaga magkaroon ng batas. Kailangan mapagusapan, kailangan makapagkonsulta tayo sa mas marami para mas maging inclusive itong policy na gagawin natin. Last resort ito ng government dahil gusto naman talagang maachieve ang proteksyon ng populasyon.”
[Translation: A law needs to be passed. We need to discuss it and we need to consult with many groups to make sure the policy we will craft is inclusive. It will be the government’s last resort because we want to achieve population protection.]
Despite saying that vaccine confidence has “improved tremendously” in the country, DOH admitted that the government’s efforts to give incentives to those who are vaccinated and make it easier to get COVID-19 shots has not been enough to rid some Filipinos of hesitancy to have themselves inoculated. In order to reach herd immunity, the country needs to vaccinate 90% of its target population.
“Vaccines work individually but this time, because of this disease, kailangan we need to reach a certain protection across the population. Para magawa natin yan, kailangan mahikayat pa natin lalo ang tao. Dito pumasok ang pag-uusap ukol sa mandatory vaccination,” Vergeire said.
[Translation: Vaccines work individually. But with COVID-19, we need to reach a certain level of protection across the population. In order to do that, we need to convince more people. This is where talks of mandatory vaccination comes in.]
Up to 28.71 million individuals in the country are now fully vaccinated while 33.75 million already received their first dose. Only 57% of senior citizens and 33% of economic frontliner have completed their shots as of Nov. 2.
