The belief that coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine would turn them into zombies is discouraging some people to be inoculated, a ranking official of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) disclosed on Sunday, Jan. 9.
DILG spokesperson Usec. Jonathan Malaya said he himself was surprised of this bizarre belief based on the information he had been receiving in the past.
“Akala natin kwento kwento lang yan but I’ve heard of that so many times sa Quezon (province), sa Bicol (region), sa kung saan saan ano (I thought it with was merely hearsay but I’ve heard of that (zombie news) so many time in Quezon, Bicol and various areas),’’ Malaya said.
He also disclosed that there are some religious groups who have been telling their followers that vaccination is demonic or satanic.
“Lagi nga naming sinasabi siguro naman hindi gagawa ang gobyerno ng isang bagay na ikakasama ng kanilang mga mamamayan (We are always telling that the government will not do anything that will harm the public),’’ he added.
Malaya said that the government had already coordinated with the religious groups stressing that these bizarre stories have no basis reiterating that putting the people’s lines at risk during the pandemic is out of the equation.
Meanwhile, Malaya noted that the DILG had not received reports of any unvaccinated barangay captains or kagawads in the National Capital Region (NCR).
He warned that the barangay captain is liable in case the COVID-19 surge in his jurisdiction is traced to the poor implementation of the minimum public health standards (MPHS) which includes the unabated outdoor activities of their unvaccinated residents.
"Barangay captain may face administrative, criminal and civil cases precisely because they are government officials," said Malaya.
“Madami pong mga pwedeng ifile sa kanila (barangay captains) for dereliction of duty, simple misconduct, negligence, madami pong pwede tayo, so alam naman yan ng kapitan (Many charges can be filed against them for dereliction of duty, simple misconduct, negligence and we can file many more the barangay captains are aware of that),’’ he added. (Chito A. Chavez)