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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Robredo bats for higher COVID-19 vaccination goal; urges 'herd immunity' drive

Robredo bats for higher COVID-19 vaccination goal; urges 'herd immunity' drive

Published May 29, 2021 12:17 pm

Vice President Leni Robredo believed that the country can meet its target to achieve "population protection" but said it would have been better if the government stuck with the original goal which was "herd immunity."

VP Leni Robredo (Geric Cruz/Bloomberg)

Robredo made the statement after the Department of Health (DOH) said on Wednesday that the country was now eyeing population protection against COVID-19 before the end of the year.

In an interview with "Viewpoint" over the Now You Know Facebook page, Robredo said there was nothing wrong with the government eyeing population protection but wondered why they would settle with it.

"Nakita ko yung schedule ng pagdating ng mga vaccines. Attainable siya (herd immunity) as long as we prepare for it. Para sa akin hindi siya imposible (I saw the schedule of the arrival of vaccines. Herd immunity is attainable as long as we prepare for it. I don't think it's impossible)," she said.

"Okay naman yung sinasabi nilang (I'm fine with) population protection but why settle for less if we can do more?" she added.

Herd immunity requires 70 to 80 percent of the country's population to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Population protection, on the other hand, targets to vaccinate the members of the population who are more susceptible to the disease and are likely to show severe symptoms.

The Vice President said sticking with the original target was better.

"It will be beneficial for us na yung goals natin mataas pa rin. Yung goal natin herd immunity pa rin (that our goals are still high, that our goal is still the herd immunity)," she said.

"Pag nagka problema sa supplies, 'di hindi natin mami-meet yung objectives natin. But I think people will understand kung naging problema yung supply (If we encounter problems with vaccine supplies, we will not meet our objectives. But I think people will understand if the problem is with the supply),' she added.

The government rolled out its vaccination program against COVID-19 on March 1 this year. As of May 25, the country has administered 4,495,375 doses of COVID-19 vaccines. A total of 1,029,061 individuals have been fully vaccinated.

Related Tags

Leni Robredo covid-19 robredo vaccination Vice President Leni Robredo herd immunity population protection vaccine
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