LGUs with 70%-80% vax output may downgrade to Level 1

MANILA – The national government will incentivize local government units (LGUs) that can inoculate at least 70 percent of eligible adults and 80 percent of senior citizens from their target population.

Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., the chief implementer of the National Task Force Against Covid-19, said LGUs that can meet the vaccination coverage requirement will be placed under the most lenient Alert Level 1 classification, citing a similar prerequisite for the National Capital Region (NCR).

“Ito po ay gagawin po natin parang requirement or incentive to those who are having ‘yung higher coverage na at least puwede po silang magkaroon ng Alert Level 1 like in the NCR (This is our plan. It will be like a requirement or incentive those who are having higher coverage so at least they can have Alert Level 1 like in the NCR),” Galvez said, during a virtual public briefing on Monday night.

Galvez also cited the need to restrategize the government’s Covid-19 vaccination program and require LGUs to ramp up their inoculation drives.

“We will focus on mobile and house-to-house vaccination to seek and vaccinate the remaining eligible population and again, we are trying to direct all the agencies and sectors to actively participate in providing primary and boosters, particularly focusing on schools and workplaces,” he added.

The Philippines has so far administered 134,332,014 doses of Covid-19 doses nationwide, with 62,652,101 adult Filipinos now fully vaccinated, including those who received the single-dose Janssen and Sputnik Light jabs.

Meanwhile, 9,781,090 eligible adults already acquired booster shots or additional doses as of Monday.

Galvez noted the country has already reached an inflection point in the Covid-19 vaccination program, with the daily output reduced from 1 million to less than 500,000 doses a day.

He also noted a low vaccination turnout during the third run of the “Bayanihan, Bakunahan” national drive from February 10 to 18, with only 3.5 million individuals inoculated.

There are still about three million senior citizens and adults with comorbidities who remained unvaccinated, according to Galvez.

Thus, the National Vaccination Operations Center of the Department of Health has designated a focal person per region to capacitate LGUs that are lagging in their vaccination achievement, particularly the Bicol Region (69.96 percent), Caraga region (69.75 percent), Mimaropa (68.56 percent), Soccsksargen (61.25 percent), and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which has the lowest vaccination rate of 28.02 percent.

Galvez said the government will expand the “Resbakuna sa Botika” drive and ask more pharmacies and medical clinics nationwide to help improve the booster vaccination numbers.