Senator Christopher “Bong” Go reminded anew Filipinos not to fear COVID-19 vaccines but fear the virus itself, saying that vaccination is an essential first step towards restoring normalcy in the country.

“Wag kayong matakot sa bakuna, matakot kayo sa COVID-19. Ang COVID-19 po ang nakamamatay. Ang bakuna lang ang tanging solusyon. Magtiwala lang po tayo sa ating gobyerno at ginagawa naman ng gobyerno ang lahat (Do not be afraid of the vaccine, be afraid of COVID-19. COVID-19 kills. The vaccine is the only solution. Trust your government. Your government is doing everything),” Go said during the Laging Handa public briefing on Monday, March 29.

Despite some concerns on vaccines aggravated by those spreading misinformation, Go claimed that the public's confidence on the vaccination has improved.

“Alam n’yo po, sa kakaikot ko sa buong bansa, sa mga nasunugan, nabahaan at iba pang sakuna, nakikita ko paunti-unti marami nang gustong magpabakuna. ‘Di tulad noon na less than 10 percent ang nagtataas ng kamay, ngayon papunta na sa kalahati ang gustong magpabakuna (You know, in going around the country, to visit victims of fire, flood and other calamities, I have seen that more people now want to be vaccinated, unlike before that only less 10 percent raised their hands, now, almost half want to be vaccinated),’’ he said.

Meanwhile, Go lauded the arrival of one million Sinovac doses purchased by the government on Monday at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City. He said that the arrival of more vaccines would be a great boost to the country’s national vaccination program.

“Malaki po ang maitutulong nito. Meron na tayong mahigit 1.5 million. Dahil sa additional one million doses, enough na to cover around 1.26 million frontliners na prayoridad natin sa pagbabakuna (This is going to be a big help. We have now more than 1.5 million doses enough to cover around 1.26 million frontliners),” he said, referring to the first one million doses donated by Sinovac plus more than half a million doses of AstraZeneca from the COVAX facility already received weeks ago. 

“Unahin natin frontliners, then senior citizens and indigent (Filipinos) and media nasa A4 na sila. Pababa nang pababa ‘yan (We will prioritize our frontliners, then senior citizens and indigent and the media),” Go pointed out.

He also asked local government units (LGUs) to follow the government’s vaccine priority list and to stop conducting VIP vaccinations.