A lawmaker at the House of Representatives on Wednesday called for more equity in the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines among the regions, as more supplies continue to arrive in the country.
Albay Rep. Joey Salceda said vaccine distribution among different regions has been “grossly unequal”, leaving behind regions like the Bangsamoro and Bicol “far behind”.
Salceda said healthcare capacity is segmented in the regions, thus the need to vaccinate the vulnerable to avoid hospitalization.
“Vaccination is very crucial for our provinces, especially for regions as geographically dispersed or expansive as Bicol. While it’s possible for one person from Caloocan to seek medical attention in Muntinlupa, that’s close to impossible in Bicol, if you have to go from say Masbate to Camarines Norte,” Salceda said.
Citing data on regional vaccination rates, he said the National Capital Region has among the highest share of vaccinated residents, at around 26.5 percent as of July 4.
He noted that at the bottom of the list, Region 5 (Bicol) has vaccinated only 2.73 percent of its population, while the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao has given only 1.52 percent of its people a first Covid-19 dose.
“The point of the vaccine is to prevent hospitalizations. So, you have to bring it to places where hospitalization is a very difficult option,” Salceda said. “I understand that we are giving large doses of vaccines to centers of economic activity, such as NCR. But the disparities are just too large.”
Salceda said the country is “nearing our national vaccination targets”.
“Yesterday, we vaccinated more people than on any other day. We did 375,059 doses yesterday. We need to do 750,000 doses a day to attain herd immunity by end of this year,” Salceda said.
He stressed that if most of the doses are concentrated in few areas, there will still be a “nationwide Covid-19 issue”.
“The National Task Force under Secretary Galvez has been very open to engaging the regions. I hope the NTF (National Task Force Against Covid-19) can allocate more vaccines to the regions. It’s a matter of survival for those from areas with under-equipped healthcare facilities,” he said.
NTF deputy chief implementer Vivencio Dizon has vowed to speed up equitable distribution of vaccines as more supplies arrive in the country in the coming months.
In a press conference Monday, Dizon said the country will inoculate some 4 million Covid-19 vaccines for the first two weeks of July, the fastest and highest number of inoculation in two weeks since the immunization program started last March.
“Vaccines are coming and our fellow Filipinos can expect that we will speed up our vaccination efforts so that many Filipinos will be able to receive vaccines in the coming weeks and months,” he said.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the country has so far administered 14 million doses in the country, 10 million of which are first doses.
Source: Philippines News Agency
