Sen. Richard J. Gordon has proposed to train more Filipinos to administer vaccines as the Philippines looks to start rolling out its coronavirus disease (COVID-19) immunization plan next month.
“I will file a bill on Monday that during times of emergency or even there is no crisis, dapat mag-train ng vaccinators gaya ng mga dentista, veterinarians, medical technologists, at kahit iyong walang medical background. We can put to bear millions of our young people who may want to become doctors someday and can practice with bakuna (vaccination), provided it’s under clinical supervision,” he said.
(They should train vaccinators like dentists, veterinarians, medical technologists, and even those without medical background)
During the hearing by the Senate Committee of the Whole (COW) Friday, Gordon questioned the capability of Department of Health (DoH) to conduct the vaccination program with only 617,239 health care workers participating in the campaign based on the department’s data.
Of the 617,239, 73,836 are from private health institutions, 64,998 from public health facilities, 29,000 are DoH-employed, 30,629 are hired by the local government units (LGUs), 194,269 are contact tracers, 207,320 are barangay health workers, while 17,034 are social workers.
“Nagdududa ako dito sa 617,239 to vaccinate 70 million Filipinos although, of course, hindi naman sabay-sabay ‘yan. Habang dumarating ang vaccine, paunti-unti, nagbabakuna tayo. Alam naman natin, mababa ang vaccination natin,” Gordon said, emphasizing the low performance rate of the country’s National Immunization Program.
(I doubt the number of 617,239 to vaccinate 70 million Filipinos although of course they would be vaccinated at the same time. As the vaccines arrive, the vaccination process begins slowly. We all know that our vaccination rate is low)
“Ang actual performance natin in 2016 ay 70 percent, 67 percent in 2017, 66 percent in 2018, 69 percent in 2019. So, hindi pa tayo masyadong bihasa sa pagbabakuna,” he added.
(So, the pace of our vaccination is not fast)
Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III agreed with Gordon’s proposal, which aims to help the government step up its immunization program, not only for COVID-19, but for other diseases, as well.
Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier said that the government aims to vaccinate 60 to 70 percent of Filipinos in three to five years.
About P82.5 billion was allocated by the government for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines this year, of which, P70 billion will be sourced from foreign loans.