Gov’t eyes October start of vaccination for general population

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte raised the possibility that the vaccination of the general population against the coronavirus might proceed in October, once the country gets a “stable” supply of the coronavirus jabs.

“I’d like the people to know that we are studying the possibility of vaccinating the general adult population as early as October if there is a stable vaccine supply,” Duterte said in his prerecorded Talk to the People delivered Monday night but aired Tuesday morning.

In the event that the government lifts the priority restrictions next month, adult Filipinos can go to vaccination sites near them to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, Duterte said.

“Kung kaya na nang ma-absorb ng gobyerno ‘yung lahat ng tao na mapabakunahan (If the government can already give access to all), we will start with the [vaccination to] maski sino na (anyone, the) general public. Parang pumunta ka na lang doon at magpaturok ka kung hindi ka pa nagpaturok ng vaccine (You can go to the vaccination center to get vaccinated),” he said.

Amid the plan to start the inoculation of the general adult population by October, Duterte said the government should give poor Filipinos priority access for Covid-19 vaccination.

Duterte said the poor should be given priority, considering that they are the most affected by the prevailing pandemic.

“Ang aming ano dito (Our stance here) is always, we have to keep equity in mind na dapat unahin na natin ang walang-wala and mga mahirap (that we should prioritize the poor),” he said.

Duterte also suggested that it would be “nice” if the government brings the Covid-19 vaccination to the slum areas.

He said giving poor Filipinos easy access to vaccines would convince them that the coronavirus jab is “available” and “good for them.”

“Alam mo kasi ‘yung mga iba (You know, there are some people) in the far-flung areas of the country outside of Metro Manila, there are a lot of Filipinos waiting to be vaccinated,” Duterte said. “As a matter of fact, it would be nice of the government to go to their places.”

The government has so far prioritized the inoculation of medical front-liners, senior citizens, individuals with comorbidities, economic front-liners, and indigent people.

As of Sept. 12, the Philippines has administered 38,746,501 vaccine doses. The National Task Force Against Covid-19 vaccination dashboard data showed that 21,951,956 have received the first shot while 16,794,545 have completed two doses.

The average daily jabs administered in the last seven days stood at 415,362 doses.

NTF Against Covid-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlo Galvez Jr. said the country is expecting the delivery of over 30 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine in October.