By Pearl Gumapos
National Task Force Against COVID-19 Adviser Dr. Ted Herbosa on Thursday (July 8) said that while the government has administered 12 million doses, this is not enough to lift COVID-19 restrictions.
“We have injected more than 12 million doses of the vaccines. Nine million ‘yung first dose at three million Filipinos na ang fully protected o nagkaroon ng second dose,” Herbosa said.
“Mababa pa rin po ‘yan. That’s only 4% of fully protected Filipinos of our target 70 million. Ang target pong [population upang makapag-advice] na tanggalin natin ‘yung mask at tsaka face shield ay umabot tayo ng 50% ng target population, so between 40 to 50 million,” he added.
Herbosa also addressed vaccine hesitancy among senior citizens, saying that of the targeted 9.8 million, only 29% have received their first dose.
“Nakita natin na mataas ang hesitancy among senior citizens. Gusto ko sanang ipaliwanag sa manonood na kaya tayo A2 sa mga seniors, ay [dahil] mataas po ang mortality rate kapag ikaw ay nagka-COVID-19,” he said.
“Kayo po ang talagang nangangailangan ng bakuna,” he added.
Herbosa also said that vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. has appointed a group to create a contingency plan in case there is another surge of COVID-19 cases.
Meanwhile, Herbosa also said vaccine manufacturers claim that their vaccines are effective against the Delta variant.
“Ang importante ay fully vaccinated [ka]. Ito ang naging findings ng mga ibang bansa. Ang nai-infect daw ay ‘yung one dose lang at ‘yung walang bakuna. So very important na makumpleto natin ‘yung ating second dose,” he said.“Kasi nakita nila na kapag may two doses ka, mas may laban ka sa bagong Delta variant.” – jlo
