A health reform advocate pushed for increased coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination in the country while the growth rate is decreasing.
Former National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19 special adviser Dr. Anthony “Tony” Leachon, on Sunday, Jan. 23, said that the national government should take advantage of the declining growth rate and ramp up the country’s vaccination drive.
“Ang dapat isipin natin kung bumababa ang growth rate natin ay samantalahin nating magbakuna nang mabilisan. Lalo na doon sa mga hindi pa nagbabakuna, yung nakaisang bakuna , at tiyaka yung booster shots (What we should think about if our growth rate is decreasing is that we should take advantage of conducting vaccinations quickly, especially for those who haven’t been vaccinated, those individuals who have so far received one vaccine dose, and definitely the booster shots),” said Leachon in an interview over DZRH.
Leachon reiterated that booster jabs protect the public against the highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19.
“Ang booster shots kasi ‘yan ang magpoprotect sa atin against Omicron. ‘Yan ang napag-aralan na lumabas kahapon sa Centers for Disease and Control Prevention (CDC) sa Amerika na ang tatlong doses talaga ang new term for full immunization (Booster shots will protect us against Omicron. This is what the studies revealed according to CDC in America. Three doses equates to the new term for full immunization) ,” Leachon added.
He also said that the NCR, being the “financial capital of the country,” must ramp up its vaccination drive to protect the region, while in the countryside the strategy should remain within the “test, trace, isolate, quarantine” method and focus more on the conduct of COVID-19 testing and vaccination.