DOH to launch massive info campaign to boost vaccine confidence — Duque

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Monday said his department will use a "massive" information campaign to encourage Filipinos to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

"We will be engaging in a massive social marketing campaign so that our people, knowing that our previous very unfortunate experience with Dengvaxia, we have learned our lessons from that experience," Duque said at a Senate hearing.

In 2017, the maker of the dengue vaccine Dengvaxia said people who had not had dengue prior to inoculation were at higher risk of more severe dengue.

More than 100 parents have since blamed the deaths of their children to the vaccine and filed criminal complaints against government officials responsible for the immunization program. Many of the cases are now in court, more are pending with prosecutors.

The Department of Health (DOH) said the link between the deaths and the vaccine has not been proven, but the Dengvaxia controversy was followed by a sharp drop in vaccine confidence in the Philippines.

Duque said vaccine confidence has "improved over time," but he stressed that "more still needs to be done."

He said the DOH is working with the Philippine Information Agency to produce videos to explain to Filipinos the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines that will be used in the country.

"I think transparency is also very, very important in all of this," he said.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III urged the DOH to keep up with content on social media that poke fun at vaccination.

"Right now in social media you're being defeated by those presentations, where they are being vaccinated and they speak Chinese thereafter and all that stuff... daming comedy ang nangyayari," the senator said.

Duque said they will tap organizations like the Philippine Medical Association and the Philippine Nurses Association to help explain to the public the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.

He said the process behind selecting the vaccine will also be shared to the public.

According to a Pulse Asia survey, only 32% of Filipinos said they are willing to be vaccinated against COVID-19. A near majority, or 47%, said they are not inclined to be inoculated.

Another survey by OCTA research showed that only one out of four Metro Manila residents are willing to be vaccinated. — RSJ, GMA News