Caloocan City Mayor Oca Malapitan is willing to get inoculated with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine first before his constituents in a bid to allay their fears of the vaccine.
Malapitan on Tuesday said he and his son, 1st District Rep. Along Malapitan, will take the lead in terms of getting vaccinated to prove that the upcoming vaccine is "safe."
"Handa tayong isa-publiko ang ating pagbabakuna sapagkat bilang mga lider, dapat tayo ang maging magandang halimbawa sa ating mga mamamayan (We're ready to show to the public that we are getting inoculated because as leaders, we should be an example to our constituents)," he said during the visit of National Task Force Against COVID-19 to the city.
Malapitan also told reporters in an interview that they are now battling misinformation on COVID-19 vaccine and noted that information dissemination is now important as a large number of surveyed residents expressed fear of getting a jab.
The mayor added that the local government is now conducting an "education campaign" to encourage the residents.
"Until we completely vaccinate all our constituents, we will never solve our COVID-19 problem," he explained.