‘’Our people must get the jab done, but our government must get the job done.’’
Senator Panfilo M. Lacson on Thursday said this is the formula for the Philippines to get out of the COVID-19 pandemic - with the government continuing to find ways to improve the implementation of the vaccination program, and people trusting that vaccines can protect them.
"The best way out of this pandemic is for our people to ‘get the jab done’ and our government to ‘get the job done,’" he said on his Twitter account on Thursday.
Lacson, chairman of the Senate national defense and security committee, reiterated as well his support for using all legal and creative means to have all Filipinos vaccinated, saying these are good moves to attain herd immunity soonest.
But Lacson also questioned the seeming delay in the implementation of a vaccine passport program that would potentially facilitate domestic and international travel. "Plano pa lang? Late again," he said.
Earlier, Lacson called on the government to be more open and less restrictive in working with the private sector and local government units in procuring vaccines - and to be transparent and exercise restraint in spending our resources that are already severely limited due to the pandemic.
On the other hand, Lacson said the public must learn to trust the vaccination process and help achieve herd immunity early, so the economy can recover.