Filipinos will need to wait until 2031 to attain herd immunity against coronavirus disease if the government fails to vaccinate at least 300,000 people every day, Vice President Leni Robredo’s camp said on Sunday, May 2.
Lawyer Barry Gutierrez, Robredo’s spokesman, warned that for the country to reach herd immunity, it has to vaccinate more than 300,000 Filipinos every day, or two million people weekly.
Right now, with its limited COVID-19 vaccine supply, the country is only vaccinating an average of 35,000 daily.
“So, kailangan natin mapabilisin na almost 10 times ‘yung ating rate ng vaccination pero sabi ni Secretary (Carlito) Galvez (Jr.) by August daw posible na every week 2 to 3 million ang ating navavaccinate. Kung magagawa iyon, mabuti (So, we need to make our vaccination rate faster by almost 10 times. Secretary Galvez said that by August, it’s possible to vaccinate 2 to 3 million every week. If we can do that, that’s good),” he said during Robredo’s weekly radio show.
If the government can start inoculating two to three million Filipinos a week by August, the country will attain herd immunity before the end of the year, the spokesman said.
Herd immunity happens when the virus can’t spread in a community because it keeps encountering people who are protected against the virus.
For the Philippines to reach herd immunity, it has to vaccinate 70 million Filipinos.
If the country can do that, Gutierrez said “makaahon tayo dito sa kasalukuyang problemang hinaharap natin dito sa COVID (we can rise again from this problem we’re facing with COVID).”
He explained that once the country attains herd immunity, the economy can reopen and there will be no restrictions on movements that affect the Filipinos’ abilities to earn a living.
Currently, the Philippines has a limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines, the delivery of which stalled in April with only 1.5 million Sinovac doses arriving from China throughout the month. There were only 15,000 doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine which arrived on Saturday, May 1.
Gutierrez recalled the Robredo earlier encourage the public to get vaccinated after the vice president noted the low vaccine confidence among the population.
He noted the importance of a “clear information program” on the misconceptions that surround the vaccines such as that people will get the live version of the virus and they can die after the inoculation.
“Kailangan talaga itulak natin, encourage natin patuloy na magpabakuna iyong mga pwedeng magpabakuna na at para lumakas lalo ang kumpiyansa ng ating kababayan dito (We really need to push it, to encourage everyone who can get vaccinated to do so to boost the confidence of our fellowmen),” Gutierrez said.
Earlier, Robredo shared that her office is already working with a team of artists, directors, and content creators on starting an information campaign about the efficacy and safety of the COVID-19 vaccines. This is in line with the bid to boost the public’s confidence in getting their shots.