
An official of the Department of Health (DOH) said that the conduct of the 4th Covid-19 national vaccination drive or the “Bayanihan, Bakunahan” campaign has been extended to further increase the country’s vaccination coverage.
“So yung ibang regions (In some regions), we will continue the national vaccination day at least for the efforts up to Tuesday (March 15),” said DOH Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje during a radio interview on Sunday, March 13.
“Ang suggestion ng ibang regions, for the seniors— itutuloy natin hanggang (The suggestion of other regions, for the seniors---we will continue until) Friday (March 18),” she added.
“Yes, for those who would like to do some more. Kasi nanghihinayang naman yung mga healthcare workers na yung momentum ba (The healthcare workers want to maintain the momentum),” she furthered.
The 4th national vaccination drive was originally scheduled on March 10 to 12. As of March 11, the total cumulative count of vaccine doses administered stood at 836,162. The campaign was aiming to vaccinate 1.8 million people.
In a public briefing on Saturday, March 12, Cabotaje said that the government is aiming to increase the vaccination rate, especially among senior citizens.
“Sila ang mga naoospital, sila ang mas malubha ang sakit kaya kailangan i-increase pa natin iyong bakunahan ng ating senior citizen (They are the ones who are at risk of hospitalization and developing severe disease, so we need to increase the vaccination of our senior citizens),” she said.
“Makikita natin sa ating mga karatig-bansa – Shanghai, Hong Kong – nao-overwhelm iyong system nila kasi kulang iyong bakuna nila sa senior citizens (We can see in our neighboring countries such as in Shanghai , Hong Kong---their system is overwhelmed because they have low vaccination coverage among senior citizens). So, we would like to push for an increase in vaccination rates and vaccination of our senior citizens,” she added.
Based on the government’s vaccination dashboard, more than six million elderly Filipinos were already fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as of March 9. Previously, the DOH said there were about eight million senior citizens in the Philippines who are eligible for vaccination.