Galvez: Many poor folk do not want to be vaccinated vs. COVID-19

Many residents of poor communities have been hesitant to receive COVID-19 vaccines, vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said on Wednesday.

At President Rodrigo Duterte's weekly briefing on COVID-19 response, Galvez said 30% to 40% in the D and E classes still do not want to be inoculated.

Those who are more well-off in the A, B, and C classes have been registering high vaccine confidence, the vaccine official said.

"Doon sa tinatawag nating ang Group D and E mataas ang hesitancy," Galvez said.

"Yung A, B and C group po ng population mataas ang uptake pero sa mga  barangay, kaloob looban ng mga congested area doon po tayo nahihirapan na more or less 30 percent or 40 percent parang ayaw magpabakuna," he added.

Galvez disclosed that over 90% of health workers nationwide already received COVID-19 jabs.

However, Galvez was troubled by the high vaccine hesitancy among  barangay health workers.

Galvez also pointed out the low number of vaccinated senior citizens, who are the most vulnerable for the coronavirus disease.

"Mayroon po tayong tinatawag na vaccine hesitancy lalong lalo na sa barangay health care workers so iyon hihikayatin ang DILG at LGUs na sumikapin na maincrease ang confidence sa public uptake," Galvez said.

"Kung talagang iaannounce natin dapat seniors citizens magkaroon ng vaccines kasi sa ngayon, 11% pa lang ang napapavaccine na senior citizens. Karamihan sa casualty ay seniors," he added.

Galvez cited data which showed 60% of COVID-19 casualties were those aged 60 years and older.

Delay in vaccine  arrival

Galvez also disclosed that there will be a delay in the arrival of 2.2 million Pfizer shots, which will arrive between June 7 to June 11 instead of May.

Over 2 million doses of Sputnik V vaccines and 3.3 million doses of AstraZeneca will also arrive next month, Galvez said.

Galvez then said 250,000 doses of Moderna are expected to arrive on June 21.

Over 4.5 million doses of Sinovac vaccines will arrive on June 6.

Overall, Galvez said they expect to receive 20,829,050 doses of vaccines in June 2021. — NB/BAP, GMA News