Año says next COVID-19 nat'l vax drive to be dedicated to senior citizens

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Tuesday said the next wave of national COVID-19 immunization drive would be dedicated to senior citizens.

Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB, Año said upon discussion with vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, the government would conduct house-to-house vaccination for the elderly.

The situation in Hong Kong, where hospitals are overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients, including the elderly, triggered this response, Año said.

"Kung mapupuna natin sa Hong Kong ngayon grabe yung surge doon, maraming namamatay. Napag-alaman natin na ang naging weakest link nila ay yung seniors dahil 30% lang pala ng kanilang seniors ang nabakunahan," he said.

(In Hong Kong where the current surge is severe and the death toll is high, we found out that their weakest link is the seniors because only 30% of their seniors have been vaccinated.)

"So yung 70% seniors ito yung nasa ospital, mga sinasawing palad at namamatay, kaya hindi natin pwede balewalain yung siyensya na mas matindi ang tama ng COVID sa mga seniors at may comorbidities. So hahanapin natin yan,” he added.

(So 70% of the seniors in Hong Kong are the ones who are in the hospital and who are dying. We cannot ignore the science that COVID is more severe on seniors and persons with comorbidities, so we will look for them.)

The government has yet to pick a date for the next national vaccination drive. But as it plans to fully vaccinate 90 million Filipinos by the end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s term in June this year, Año said they would prioritize inoculating the senior citizens.

"By end of President Duterte’s term kasi ang target natin 90 million Filipinos, so meaning to say ang automatic na hahanapin natin doon, ang uunahin natin ang seniors,” he said.

(Our target is 90 million Filipinos by the end of President Duterte's term, which means it is automatic that we prioritize the seniors.)

According to the Interior secretary, around 62 million Filipinos have already been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

The Department of Health earlier reported that the government vaccinated at least 3.5 million individuals against COVID-19 during the third wave of the “Bayanihan, Bakunahan” program that ran from February 10 to 18.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the number of vaccinated individuals during the mass vaccination drive fell short of the government’s target of five million. —KBK, GMA News