Philippines cited by G20 as model for vaccine deployment, says Galvez

The G20 (Group of 20) forum has recognized the Philippines as an “example” country in the acceleration of COVID-19 vaccine deployment, vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said Monday.

In the weekly “Talk to the People”, Galvez reported the country has been commended by the intergovernmental forum after the administration effectively boosted its inoculation efforts despite the high vaccine hesitancy and low vaccine supplies at the start of the mass immunization program.

“Na-cite dito na despite the challenges that we had na napakababa ng coverage at supply during the early stages but we were able to accelerate itong vaccination natin,” the official said.

(It was cited here that despite the challenges we had wherein there was a very low coverage and supply rate during the early stages, we were able to accelerate our vaccination.)

“Nakita nila na were able to increase the coverage… ‘yung mga obstacles na nakikita natin.. Alam natin na napakarami nating obstacles na nangyari noong nagkaroon ng mishap sa Dengvaxia,” he added.

(They saw we were able to increase the coverage. We had a lot of obstacles especially due to the Dengvaxia mishap.)

Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año said the government has embarked on various strategies to bring vaccination closer to the people such as through house-to-house inoculation, among others.

Año said 750 cities and municipalities out of 1,634 local government units (LGU) participated in this drive, which also focused on giving the shots to senior citizens.

Galvez thanked the concerned departments for their coordination, underscoring that their joint efforts improved Filipinos’ willingness to accept the coronavirus jabs from 36 percent to 87 percent.

“Ito po napakalaking karangalan sa Pilipinas dahil ito’y napakalaking evaluation ng UNICEF at international community. Inilalagay ang Pilipinas na isang ehemplo in terms of reducing vaccine hesitancy and increased demand for COVID vaccines including the risk communication and communication engagement,” he added.

(This is a big achievement for the Philippines because this is a huge evaluation from UNICEF and the international community. They put the Philippines as an example in terms of reducing vaccine hesitancy and increased demand for COVID vaccines including the risk communication and communication engagement.)

A total of 79.95 percent or over 71 million Filipinos have completed their two coronavirus doses as of April 17 while more than 66 million have received their second dose.

The administration of booster doses, however, remains slow as only over 12 million Filipinos so far have received their third COVID-19 shots.

Zero granular lockdown

Año also announced that no area in the country in under granular lockdown from April 10 to 16, 2022 — a first since the two-year coronavirus pandemic hit the country.

“Last week, meron pa tayong anim na under granular lockdown pero ngayon wala na. Ang kapalit naman nito ay pursigido nating pinapatupad ang minimum public health standards,” he said.

Meanwhile, during the same period,  violations for not wearing masks and not practicing physical distancing decreased to 15.69 percent or 28, 622 and  47.12 percent or 3,002 respectively. Violations of conducting mass gathering, however, increased to 62.5 percent or 13 cases.

“Patuloy nating ipapatupad ang minimum public health standards para siguraduhin na hindi magkakaroon ng transmission ng COVID-19,” he said.

(We will continue to implement the minimum public health standards to make sure there will be no transmission of COVID-19.)—LDF, GMA News