The government should launch a massive information campaign to overcome hesitancy on COVID-19 vaccines, Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III said on Friday, May 21.
Sotto joined his colleagues who found the Department of Health's (DOH) efforts lacking particularly in informing the public about the available coronavirus vaccines.
"Information drive kailangan (What we need is an information drive)," Sotto said in a message to reporters.
The Senate leader, however, did not oppose the DOH's plan to implement a brand agnostic policy to prevent the repeat of the recent overcrowding of vaccination sites where Pfizer vaccines were offered.
Sotto said the public, anyway, will still be informed about the vaccine to be administered to them when they get to the site.
"Ang akala nun iba, pati 'pag bakuna hindi ipaalam ang brand. Mali (Some thought that brands will not be disclosed during the day of their vaccination. That's wrong)!" he said.
Some senators had protested the government's plan not to announce the vaccine brands to be injected to the public until the day of their vaccination. They said the policy will not be effective and will only worsen fears of getting the coronavirus jabs.
Others, on the other hand, saw this as a "practical" solution to the vaccine hesitancy.