Vice presidential aspirant Senator Christopher “Bong” Go on Tuesday, Nov. 9 rallied support for the upcoming joint initiative between the government and private sector’s drive to administer at least five million doses of COVID-19 vaccines over a three-day period, urging people to “be a hero” and save lives.
“Let us be heroes in our own way and put a stop to the spread of this virus by getting vaccinated,” said Go, who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, in a statement.
“Hinihikayat ko ang lahat na magpabakuna lalo na’t bukas na ang programa sa general population (I encourage everyone to get vaccinated especially since the program is now open to the general population),” he further said.
Go, a staunch ally of the Duterte government’s programs, said it is high-time the general public shows its regard for the country’s frontliners by getting vaccinated.
“Huwag kayong matakot sa bakuna dahil ito ang tanging solusyon para unti-unti na tayong makabalik sa ating normal na pamumuhay (Do not be afraid of the vaccine because this is the only solution for us to return to our normal lives),” he appealed.
Go also noted that the country’s COVID-19 response recently achieved two new milestones—exceeding its supply target of 100 million doses of vaccines, and the successful administration of over one million doses in a single day last Nov. 4.
The government has administered 64.2 million doses as of Nov. 7. A total of 34.7 million individuals have also received their first dose while 29.5 million Filipinos are already fully vaccinated.
Earlier this month, President Rodrigo Duterte directed all local government units (LGUs) to speed up their vaccine rollouts by raising their target to five million doses per week.
Against this backdrop, Go renewed his call to the public and private sectors to come up with incentives to encourage more people to get their COVID-19 shots.
The senator previously supported a proposal by the Metro Manila Council of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to ease certain COVID-19 Guidelines for the fully vaccinated.
“Kung ma-relax natin kaunti ang mga travel restrictions at ibang protocols, inaasahan natin na mas maraming sektor ng ekonomiya ang mabubuksan (If we are able to relax some travel restrictions and other protocols, we can expect many sectors of the economy to open),” said Go.
“Subalit dahan-dahan nating gawin ito. Maingat nating balansehin ang buhay at kabuhayan ng mga Pilipino. Huwag nating biglaing buksan lahat kaagad, baka naman tumaas ang bilang ng mga kaso at mahihirapan na naman ang ating healthcare system. Ayaw nating mag-back to zero na naman tayo (But let’s do this gradually. We need to carefully balance life and livelihood of all Filipinos. Let’s not rush to open all sectors, or it might result to a surge of cases and cause burden to our healthcare system. We do not want to go back to zero again),” the lawmaker stressed.