Cavite Representative Elpidio Barzaga, Jr. has filed a bill seeking to amend the COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021 and make the government’s inoculation program against the coronavirus disease mandatory for individuals as “may be determined” by the Department of Health (DOH).
In filing House Bill No. 9252, Barzaga said a mass COVID-19 vaccination program can only be successfully achieved by “enacting a legislation to mandate and promote COVID-19 vaccination, address vaccine hesitancy and instill public confidence in the personal, family and community benefits of immunization.”
“It will be tragic if we have safe and effective vaccines available but people refuse to take them,” Barzaga said in the explanatory note of the bill.
Barzaga said it is imperative that the government increases vaccine confidence and improve the public’s understanding of how the COVID-19 vaccine can help control the spread of the disease in their families, and communities through a mass information campaign using print, radio, television and social media.
“As legislators, we have a legal responsibility to pass a law to further prevent the introduction, transmission and spread of COVID-19 and address our present crisis,” he said.
“Mass vaccination has the power to end the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, reduce the virus to a manageable risk and let normal life resume,” he further said.
But while the measure seeks mandatory inoculation against COVID-19, persons with “medical conditions,” can be exempted from the vaccination.
Under the bill, medical doctors will have the discretion, subject to disciplinaroy action by the Philippine Medical Association (PMA), to determine whether a person should get a medical exemption from inoculation.
Based on the bill, the medical basis for the exemption must be clearly indicated and must be consistent with the standard of medical care for that indication
“That the medical exemption may be reviewed by the DOH to ensure that they are being provided consistent with the standard of medical care for a particular medical condition,” the measure stated.