The government vaccination drive will continue even during the election campaign period next year with a target to fully vaccinate 90 million against Covid-19 before the May 2022 polls.
In an interview with PTV last Tuesday, Presidential Adviser for Covid-19 Response Secretary Vivencio “Vince” B. Dizon said they intend to sustain the immunization drive during the campaign period and even on election day itself.
“We cannot stop with the vaccination. We will continue doing it even during the campaign and election. We will just make sure it will not be used for political purposes,” Dizon stressed.
The campaign period for the 2022 polls will start in February next year.
The Omnibus Election Code, meanwhile, covers the temporary halt of most government projects and initiatives during the campaign period, but the Commission on Elections (Comelec) may grant exemption to vaccination activities.
Last Monday, National Task Force for Covid-19 chief implementer Carlito G. Galvez Jr. announced they are targeting to fully inoculate 90 million Filipinos by second quarter of 2022.
The measure is part of government’s aim to minimize the risk of infection during the elections on May 8, 2022.
As of Monday, the government was able to fully vaccinate over 37.8 million Filipinos against Covid-19.
Dizon said they are targeting to increase the number of fully vaccinated individuals to 54 million before the end of the year with the conduct of the second National Vaccination Days this month.
