Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 5) — Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Friday said hospital chiefs volunteering to get vaccinated first are enough to push more health workers to do the same.
“Hindi na muna natin kailangan ng maraming influencers outside of the sector. It’s enough that the hospital chiefs have themselves vaccinated,” Duque said when asked how the department can encourage more healthcare workers to be inoculated.
[Translation: There is currently no need to look for influencers outside of the health sector.]
Prior to the arrival of China’s Sinovac vaccine, many have expressed concern given its low efficacy rate at around 50.4%, which will be used first on health workers being the priority sector in the vaccine rollout. The Food and Drug Administration also said this may not be the best vaccine for health workers, especially those exposed to COVID-19 patients.
After further examination, health experts recommended its use for the group as an immediate means to protect their lives.
The government earlier rejected prioritizing “influencers,” which will include government officials, media personalities, and celebrities to improve vaccine confidence among Filipinos.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, who was included in the list, said the national task force had proposed to reserve some 50 doses for them, but the interim National Immunization Technical Advisory Group rejected this, pointing out that the vaccines should be used to protect health workers instead.
Duque also mentioned that of around 13,000 medical workers already vaccinated since day 1, only few have experienced minor side effects like nausea, weakness, and fever, while cases of possible adverse effects are still being verified.
The Philippines currently has around 1 million vaccine doses from Sinovac and the UK’s AstraZeneca, which is still not enough to immunize around 1.7 million health workers across the country.
