Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Thursday encouraged candidates in the upcoming May elections to include vaccination while campaigning.
Duque said they are appealing to local government units and election candidates to also campaign for wider booster coverage to the population they govern.
"Isama na nila 'yung bakuna, 'yung vaccination dahil libre. Ang ganda-gandang pagkakataon, ang ganda-gandang plataporma ang kalusugan, meron talagang appeal sa tao," he told DZRH in an interview.
(They should include the vaccine, the vaccination because it’s free. It’s a good opportunity, a good platform when it comes to health. It has an appeal to people.)
He made the appeal as the country observes a lower turnout for booster vaccinations against COVID-19, with only over 11 million people getting their booster shots as of March 27.
"Talagang gumagapang tayo sa booster kasi out of the 44 million na eligible population, nasa 12 million lang tayo. So 25% lang 'yung coverage natin out of the eligible population," he said.
(We are really crawling when it comes to booster because out of the 44 million eligible population, we are at 12 million. So our coverage for eligible population is at 25%.)
Duque attributed this to Filipinos who wait for the last minute, or when the country is on the brink of another surge, before getting their booster shots against COVID-19.
"Ang problema naman satin minsan, with all due respect, kung kailang magkaka-surge dun gustong bilang pagpabakuna, magpa-booster," he pointed out.
(The problem with us sometimes, with all due respect, is we only get the vaccines and the booster when there is an upcoming surge.)
According to the health secretary, the best time to get the booster shots is during "quiet time" when there are no lines or queues.
"Habang ngayon na tahimik ito ang pinakamagandang panahon na magpa-booster. Hindi mahaba pila, hindi siksikan," he said.
(The best time to get the booster is now when it is still quiet. There are no long lines and huge crowds.)
The country has fully vaccinated 72.93% of its target 90 million individuals who are eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccines, according to the latest health advisory from the Health Department.
