Año tells LGUs to assist non-techie seniors in getting COVID-19 jabs
By Chito Chavez
To achieve herd immunity, senior citizens who are not familiar in using high-tech gadgets must be registered by the local government units (LGUs) to enable them to receive coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) shots, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año said on Wednesday night, May 19.
“The LGUs must help our seniors who do not know how to use high tech gadgets. Find the ways on how to register them immediately even manually so that they can avail the vaccines,’’ Año said.
Año’s appeal came at the heels of complaints that some senior citizens had difficulty in registering with their LGUs to get inoculated due to their inability to operate high-tech gadgets like computers and smartphones.
The DILG chief said that the LGUs should resort to house-to-house calls to register the said senior citizens if the need arises.
Having undergone heart surgery twice, Año confirmed having initially vaccinated with Sinovac two weeks ago at the Department of Health (DOH) headquarters in Manila after obtaining clearance from his doctors.
“Sa June 5 pa second dose ko (My second dose is set on June 5),’’ Año said.
Año pleaded to the public to take the next available vaccine and not to be choosy on the brand to protect them from the virus.
“Mas mahirap kung abutan ka ng COVID-19 sa kapipili o kahihintay mo (for the brand of your choice). (Things would worsen if you get infected by COVID-19 while choosing or waiting). The best vaccine is the one available to you now. Parehas lang naman ang bisa ng nga yan. Ang mahalaga ay protektado ka na ngayon (All of them are effective. What is important is you are protected),’’ Año emphasized.