Stepped up vax rollout in provinces pressed
A House leader appealed to the national government to intensify its vaccination program in areas outside the National Capital Region.
Deputy Speaker and Manila Representative Bienvenido Abante Jr. said it is about time to increase the vaccination rate in other provinces after Metro Manila is close to its 70 percent threshold.
“The good news is that in Metro Manila we are close to vaccinating the 70 percent threshold needed to protect the population in NCR. However, it is only in Metro Manila that we have vaccinated over a third of our targeted population; in the provinces, we still have a long way to go,”Abante said.
Earlier, Abante had called on the government to provide booster shots for health workers and senior citizens, the most vulnerable sectors in the general population.
Now that they are being provided booster shots, and minors 12 to 17 are being vaccinated as well, Abante reminded the government to step up efforts in provinces––especially in areas where COVID cases are shooting up.
“It is commendable that it appears we already have vaccine supplies available, but securing the vaccines is only half the battle. The real and immediate challenge is to mobilize the government and LGU machinery so those vaccine doses are administered as quickly as possible to prevent surges in the provinces,” the solon added.
While COVID-19 infections in Metro Manila have dropped to pre-surge levels, on October 19 two provinces––Negros Oriental and Davao Occidental––were placed under Alert Level 4. Nationally, only 31.76 percent of the targeted population is fully vaccinated. NCR tops all regions with 80.78 percent of its targeted population already fully vaccinated; the next highest is CAR at 34.758 percent.
According to the lawmaker, local economies in the regions will not be able to recover if only a small portion of their population is vaccinated.
He pointed out that “as long as people stay home, their money stays home with them––and so many services and industries suffer losses as a result.”
