Allowing seniors to go out viable but should be studied carefully –Go

Allowing vaccinated senior citizens to go out amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is viable but should be studied carefully, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go said Saturday.

“[N]aintindihan ko naman si Senator Villar. Pag senior citizen gusto mo ring lumabas, ma-enjoy mo naman ang buhay mo kaya nga inuna sila sa bakuna para protektado sila,” he said in a radio interview.

(I understand Senator Villar. Senior citizens also want to go out and enjoy their lives. They were vaccinated for their protection.)

On Tuesday, Senator Cynthia Villar questioned why senior citizens were prioritized in the government’s vaccination program if they will still not be allowed to leave their homes.

In response, Senator Nancy Binay explained that senior citizens could still transmit the illness to non-vaccinated individuals.

“Pag aralan po, ibalanse natin. Ginagawa lang naman ng gobyerno na ‘wag muna silang payagan dahil pinag aaralan pang mabuti, balansehin natin. Ang lahat para sa kapakanan ng senior citizen,” Go said.

(We’re going to study it, balance it. The government is prohibiting them right now because we still need to study it carefully and balance it. This is all for the protection of senior citizens.)

In a separate radio interview, Villar said she has reached out to vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. regarding the matter.

“[A]t sinabi ko sa kanya, ‘di ba ‘pag nabakunahan na you are safe from death and serious illnesses… may maliit na percentage na pwede kang magka-COVID, magpeprevent naman yun sa health protocols, so pwede nang palabasin ang senior citizen,” she said.

(I told him, once you are vaccinated, you are safe from death and serious illnesses… there’s only a small percentage that you can get COVID, but this can be prevented by health protocols, so seniors could be allowed to go out.)

“Sabi niya sasabihin daw niya sa IATF ‘yun. Palagi ko siya ipapafollow up doon kasi unfair naman ‘di ba,” she added.

(He said he will tell this to the IATF. I’m going to keep following up on this because it’s unfair for others.) — DVM, GMA News