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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Non-announcement of vaccine brand 'will create distrust' — Mayor Tiangco

Non-announcement of vaccine brand 'will create distrust' — Mayor Tiangco

Published May 20, 2021 01:28 pm

Navotas City Mayor Toby Tiangco is not in favor of the Department of Interior and Local Government's (DILG) order to make local government units (LGUs) refrain from announcing COVID-19 vaccine brands to be used in vaccination centers.

For Tiangco, the DILG's move "will create distrust" in terms of the national government's vaccination efforts and "will not solve the problems" of the Filipinos' vaccine hesitancy.

"Ang gagawin lang ng tao dyan, 'hindi namin alam yung bakuna, edi hindi na lang kami magpapabakuna (What the people will say is: We won't get vaccinated anymore because we don't know the brand),'" he said in ANC interview.

"We don't have to hide the brand. We just have to manage the rollout properly to avoid the problems," he added.

Tiangco said hiding the brand will not only lose people's trust in vaccine brands but also in the country's COVID-19 vaccination process.

"Kasi ang itatanong ng tao, ano ba ang tinatago nyo? Bakit hindi kayo maging transparent diba? (People will ask us what are we hiding? Why can't we be transparent?) How do we build confidence? How do we build trust in anything we do? It is through transparency," he added.

Tiangco, in a Viber message, also said that "vaccination is purely voluntary and cannot be forced upon a person" so "it is the right of the person to know what vaccine will be administered."

The mayor expressed concern that "there is no such thing as a secret" as far as hiding the brand of the vaccine to be administered is concerned because "vaccines have to be prepared."

"So for sure, there will be information leak about it," he said.

Tiangco, who had been pushing for the people's right to choose their vaccine brand since the start of the country's vaccination program, made the remark after the DILG ordered LGUs not to announce the brand of vaccines to be administered in their areas. An individual who is scheduled for vaccination will only be informed of the brand on-site and must sign a consent to receive it.

"The best vaccine is the one that is available; therefore, in order to overcome brand preference, LGUs should not announce the brand of vaccine to be used in vaccination centers," DILG Sec. Eduardo Ano said after several cities reported a rise in the number of people willing to get vaccinated following the arrival of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Tiangco said he has not yet received any written order from the national government regarding the non-announcement of vaccine brands, but added he would appeal to them to reconsider the city's position.

In January, the Navotas City government launched an online survey to know the preference of its residents in terms of COVID-19 vaccine.

Tiangco said that if people are not given the right to choose their vaccine, then more people might end up not getting inoculated.

"Kung sasabihin mong hindi kayo pwede pumili, eh papano kung sabihin ng tao na, kung di yung brand ko, di na ako papabakuna. mas maraming mawawala sa ating lahat diba, kasi dapat mas marami ang magpabakuna eh (If you would tell them that they cannot choose a brand, what would you do if they end up not wanting to get vaccinated at all? We will all lose because our goal actually is to vaccinate more people)," he said in a TV interview in January.

Related Tags

covid-19 toby tiangco announcement DILG vaccine distrust Navotas city
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