Vaccination rate among elderly remains low; DOH cites accessibility as a challenge

The Department of Health (DOH) said on Saturday that only a small percentage of the country’s elderly population were vaccinated against COVID-19 due to challenges in accessibility to vaccination sites.

Interviewed on state-run PTV’s Laging Handa, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that only 5% of the more than eight million senior citizens have been vaccinated.

“Ang nakikita namin na usual reasons kung bakit sa tingin namin hindi lang hesitancy merong parte rin ng access dito sa ating mga bakunahan dahil marami sa ating nakakatanda ay takot pa ring lumabas, ang iba naman ay nahihirapang sumakay ng mga sasakyan ang iba naman ay bedridden,” Vergeire said.

(Among the usual reasons we see is not just hesitancy but also part of it is because of access to vaccination. Most of the elderly are still afraid to go out, while others find it difficult to commute or they are bedridden.)

The Health official said local government units are intensifying their house-to-house vaccination efforts to address the low vaccination turnout among senior citizens.

“Kaya ang mga local government units natin ngayon ay nagiikot na talaga, nagbabahay-bahay para sa ating mga senior citizens para tumaas ang pagbabakuna natin sa ating nakakatanda,” she said.

(That’s why our local government units go house-to-house to reach our senior citizens so that the vaccination among our elderly will increase.)

Vergeire said allowing fully vaccinated senior citizens to go out of their homes is among the ways to encourage the elderly to get their jabs.

“The major objective is for them to go out so they can exercise in the parks and also for their mental health,” she said.

“Kung sakali na makita nila na pinapayagan na ang ibang matatanda na makalabas, makapunta sa mga parke, makapagsimba sa tingin namin ay mahihikayat namin ang iba na makapagpabakuna,” she added.

(If they see other seniors going out to the parks or going to church, we believe we can encourage more of them to get vaccinated.)

On Friday, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque announced that the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) allowed fully vaccinated senior citizens in GCQ and modified GCQ areas to go outside of their homes for non-essential trips. — DVM, GMA News