The Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) should consider conducting house-to-house vaccination to further make COVID-19 shots more accessible to the people.

Quezon City 2nd District Rep. Precious Hipolito-Castelo made the appeal as she noted that many individuals have shied away from vaccination centers for fear of catching the virus.

Castelo also asked the IATF and the local government unit of Quezon City to offer people the privilege of choosing preferred vaccines.

“Let us seek out residents who have not been vaccinated by knocking on their doors and offer them their preferred vaccine to help them protect themselves and others from the virus,” she said.

Castelo, vice chairperson of the House Committee on Metro Manila Development, fear of getting infected with the highly-transmissible Omicron variant has prevented many from getting their jabs in inoculation centers assigned them.

“Others are waiting for the vaccine of their choice to become available, while the poor have no access to the internet, or if they have, their signal is spotty, making it hard for them to register online for vaccination,” she said.

She added that the IATF and the Quezon City government should also target those fully vaccinated who are waiting for their booster shots.

“This proposed house-to-house or door-to-door vaccination for both the unvaccinated and fully vaccinated awaiting their additional dose will protect our people against omicron, which now accounts for most Covid-19 cases,” she stressed.

At the same time, Castelo urged the Department of Health (DOH) to provide Quezon City and other LGUs with sufficient supply of vaccines that have a higher uptake or wider acceptance.

“Let’s face it, people naturally prefer vaccines with higher efficacy. The DOH has come out with a list of mix-and-match vaccines and people are free to choose which brand they think would better protect them,” she said.

The lady solon said Quezon City and other LGUs should know by now which vaccines most residents opt for and should ask the DOH for enough supply.

According to her a government hospital in Quezon City ran out of stock last week because people preferred the vaccine it offered.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque lll has urged LGUs and hospitals to immediately request for replenishment when their vaccines are about to be used up.