The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has expressed its support to the government's proposed three-day vaccination drive from November 29 to December 1.

The nationwide drive is being eyed by the government in an attempt to boost the number of vaccinated Filipinos to at least 50 million by the end of the year.

According to Marc Siapno, CHR deputy spokesperson, the initiative shows the government's willingness to reach out to those who refuse to get vaccinated.

"Wine-welcome natin at malugod tayo na meron tayong other initiatives tulad ng three-day vaccination drive ng gobyerno. In this sense, nakikita natin na the government is reaching out especially dun sa mga ayaw magpabakuna," he told DZRH in an interview.

(We welcome and we are pleased that there are other initiatives like the government’s three-day vaccination drive. In this sense, we can see that the government is reaching out especially to those who refuse to get the jabs.)

However, the commission is hoping the government will not force people into getting vaccinated and get their consent first.

"Ang kailangan natin 'yung pagbabalanse sa individual rights saka sa rights ng lipunan. Dahil ayaw natin na yung gobyerno na may pangunahing responsibilidad na protektahan 'yung mga mamamayan niya ‘yung mga unang pumipilit o 'yung lumalabag sa kanilang mga karapatan," said Siapno.

(We need to balance individual rights and the rights of the community because we don’t want the government, which has the primary responsibility of protecting its citizens, to be the first one to force them or violate their rights.)

The deputy spokesperson said there are different reasons why people are not yet vaccinated, such as misinformation and access to the vaccines.

Siapno said that misinformation is the real enemy of vaccinations, saying that some people believe that the jabs are the reason for a person's death and not the vaccines.

"Kailangan magkaroon tayo ng credible source of information na itatama yung mga natatanggap nila sa Viber group, sa messaging group, sa Facebook para itama itong mga ganitong klaseng impormasyon," said Siapno.

(We need to have a credible source of information that will correct what people are receiving on their Viber groups, messaging groups, on Facebook to correct these kinds of information.)

He added that access to the vaccines is another problem, citing a case where a citizen would rather spend his money for food for his family instead of using it to get to a vaccination site.

"Ito sana 'yung mga dimension na tinitignan din ng gobyerno at sana kayang matugunan dito nga sa national vaccination drive nagustong itulak ng gobyerno," Siapno said.

(We hope this is the dimension seen by the government and we hope this could be addressed in the national vaccination drive proposed by the government.)

Another problem is the "intimidation" of the public on online vaccine registration. As demonstrated by online classes, Siapno said there are still limitations on Internet access in some areas, while some do not know how to register and get updates on their jabs.

Siapno urged local government units to reach out to those who are having a hard time registering or going to vaccination sites.

As of November 8, the government has administered 64.9 million doses to Filipinos, according to the Department of Health.