Low vaccination demand LGUs' biggest challenge, says DILG exec

Department of the Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said Sunday the biggest challenge for local governments in the COVID-19 inoculation drive is the low demand among their residents.

Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB's "Dobol B sa News TV" on Sunday, Malaya attributed the low demand for vaccination to the unverified negative information that the public keeps getting from social media.

“I think, ang pinakamalaking hamon natin, although gumaganda na, is 'yung demand...kasi nga doon nga sa nababasa nila sa Facebook, 'yung kuwento-kuwento sa kanila,” Malaya said.

“Tingin ko 'yung kailangang mensahe natin sa ating kababayan ay lahat ng bakuna na aaprubahan ng ating pamahalaan ay dumaan sa tamang proseso,” he added.

Malaya said the public should be informed that COVID-19 vaccine products undergo several panels of experts before getting approval from the Food and Drug Administration to ensure their safety and efficacy.

Earlier, Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian said the city's online registration traffic for COVID-19 vaccination was sluggish.

In Quezon City, meanwhile, Mayor Joy Belmonte said only 37,899 out of 74,793 residents who answered a survey said they were willing to be vaccinated. According to her, 10,819 residents refused to get vaccinated while 26,725 said they were undecided.

Health experts earlier said that Filipinos’ trust and confidence in vaccines may be the next challenge in the COVID-19 pandemic.

San Lazaro Hospital’s infectious disease specialist Dr. Rontgene Solante warned of COVID-19 vaccines wastage possibly due to recipients failing to show up for their vaccination schedule.

According to him, backup recipients should be on stand-by in case some scheduled receivers of the shot fail to show up. —LBG, GMA News