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IATF calls for mandatory COVID jabs- Año

Philippines | National

IATF calls for mandatory COVID jabs- Año

By Chito Chavez

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) is pushing anew for the mandatory vaccination against the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) amid the upsurge of cases during the Holiday season.

While a law is still needed to do so, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año stressed that the local government units (LGUs) have the power to enforce the measure.

“Gusto sana natin talagang gawing mandatory (vaccination) ito pero nga wala tayong batas except ‘yung mga local government units, may kapangyarihan sila diyan (We really want to make it mandatory but we do not have any law on that except that the local government units have the power on that),’’ Año said.

Free or cheaper tests

Año added that the IATF is contemplating on having free or less costly COVID-19 tests with the government looking into providing free antigen test kits.

“Pinag-uusapan 'yan sa IATF (meetings) pati rin 'yung viability na magbigay din ng mga antigen test kit (That is being discussed in the IATF including the viability of also providing antigen test kit),’’ he added.

The DILG chief clarified that there remains no agreement yet among the task force members regarding the free or cheaper COVID-19 testing kits.

In the same report, the IATF said it will scrutinize the guidelines for alert level 3 areas with the rapid rise of COVID-19 cases as announced by acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles. (Chito A. Chavez)

Related Tags

Karlo Nograles DILG IATF Eduardo AÃ±o 2 seeks mandatory covid jabs

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