The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) has expressed full support on Tuesday, March 16, for the inclusion of governors, mayors and barangay captains in the government’s coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program priority list.
DILG Undersecretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said the move is necessary with the “(COVID-19) vaccine hesitancy’’ of some individuals even during the prevalence of the soaring cases of the virus.
He said the inclusion of local officials would be helpful in boosting the confidence of their constituents to the vaccination program.
“We fully support that (having the governors, mayors, barangay captains in the COVID-19 vaccination priority list). Actually it has been our position from the very beginning,’’ Malaya said.
On March 14, DILG Undersecretary for Barangay affairs Martin Diño made a similar call citing the urgency of having more qualified individuals to be vaccinated by the COVID-19 dose.
He depressed hope that the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) will accede to the move since local officials may be used to promote the use of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Since making the request to the IATF, Diño challenged the 42,000 barangay captain to be injected with the COVID-19 vaccine since the “domino principle’’ will entice the other members of the community to be inoculated with the dose.
Diño added that members of the media should also be included in the COVID-19 priority vaccination list since they may be considered as front liners.