Focus on boosting vaccine confidence, critics told

MANILA – Instead of criticizing the Duterte administration’s Covid-19 response, critics should “concentrate” on boosting vaccine confidence among Filipinos, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said Sunday.

In his online commentary show “Counterpoint”, Panelo emphasized that the main problem hounding the government’s vaccination campaign was vaccine hesitancy and not corruption or preference for a certain brand.

“Tayo ang unang nanawagan na ang problema talaga sa bakuna, hindi yung mga sinasabing may korupsyon, may preferred tayong bakuna, mabagal, kulang…Ang sinabi natin ang problema natin, mahigit sa kalahati ng populasyon sabi ng Pulse survey, talagang marami ang ayaw magpabakuna (We were the first to say that the problem about vaccines is not about corruption, that there’s a preferred vaccine, that procurement is slow, that it’s lacking. The problem is more than half of the population refuse to get vaccinated according to the Pulse Asia survey),” he said.

He was referring to results of the Pulse Asia survey conducted between Nov. 23 and Dec. 2, 2020 which showed that nearly 50 percent of respondents were unwilling to get inoculated for Covid-19, 32 percent were willing to get the vaccine, and 21 percent were undecided.

Among those who refused, 84 percent cited safety of the vaccine as their reason for refusal.

Another survey by OCTA Research Tugon ng Masa conducted from Dec. 9 to 13 in Metro Manila indicated that only 25 percent of Metro Manila residents aged 18 and up were willing to be vaccinated.

Meanwhile, 28 percent of the respondents have said that they would not get the vaccine, and 47 percent have answered they have not decided whether they want to receive an anti-coronavirus shot.

Panelo renewed his call to the opposition to help the administration inform Filipinos about the benefits of getting inoculated with a Covid-19 vaccine.

“Kaya sinasabi natin (sa) mga senador, mga kritiko, puwede ba dito na lang tayo mag concentrate. Mag educate tayo (That’s why I’m calling on senators and critics to concentrate on boosting vaccine confidence. Let’s educate people),” he added.

He said politicians, officials, and other personalities have a “sphere of influence” that could convince Filipinos that the vaccines procured by government are safe and effective.

“Pag meron silang duda at sinabi nating ‘Hindi, huwag kayo maniwala, eto ang pinawalaan niyo’, naniniwala sila (If they have doubts and we say, ‘No, don’t believe in that, believe this’, they’ll believe us),” he said.

He noted that critics should help because the failure of the government’s vaccination campaign could spell trouble for the entire nation.

“Pag hindi ho natin mapaniwala, e sayang lahat yung paghihirap natin (If we don’t convince them to get vaccinated, our efforts would go to waste),” he said.

The PCOO and its attached agency, the Philippine Information Agency, earlier launched the “Explain, Explain, Explain” information campaign which intends to persuade the public to get inoculated with the Covid-19 vaccine.

The government’s goal is to vaccinate around 70 percent of the population in the country to achieve herd immunity.

Herd immunity is defined as the indirect protection from an infectious disease that happens when a population is immune either through vaccination or immunity developed through the previous infection, according to the World Health Organization.