By NG Seruela
The national government is looking into the possibility of vaccinating the general adult population in October.
In his public address, aired on Tuesday (Sep. 14), President Rodrigo Roa Duterte announced that the government is “studying the possibility of vaccinating the general adult population as early as October,” given that the country’s vaccine supply is stable.
“Kung mayroon nang madagdag at kung kaya na nang ma-absorb ng gobyerno ‘yung lahat ng tao na mapabakunahan, we will start with the–maski sino na–general public,” he said.
Duterte emphasized that the marginalized must be considered in receiving the vaccine first.
“Ang aming [position] dito is always we have to keep equity in mind na dapat unahin na natin ang walang-wala and mga mahirap.”
He added that many Filipinos in far-flung areas are waiting for their turn to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Duterte suggested vaccinating “those who cannot really afford to be travelling back and forth” first in their jurisdictions.
“Alam mo kasi ‘yung mga iba in the far-flung areas also of the country outside of Metro Manila, there are a lot of Filipinos waiting to be vaccinated.”
Meanwhile, as of Sep. 13, the Philippines has administered a total of 39,142,205 COVID-19 vaccine doses, with 22,063,529 as the first dose, and 17,078,676 as the second dose. -rir
