ONLY around a third of the senior citizens nationwide, who are registered in the government’s inoculation drive are fully vaccinated, according to the Department of Health (DOH).
In an online press briefing, DOH-Health Promotion Bureau Director Dr. Beverly Ho disclosed that only 2.6 million or 32.57 percent of the 8.4 million senior citizens in their master list have full protection against Covid-19.
The rest, she said, have yet to get even their first dose despite senior citizens being among the priority sectors in the government’s vaccine deployment along with health care workers and those with co-morbidities.
The National Commission of Senior Citizens (NCSC) said among the reasons for the low turnout was refusal or hesitation of senior citizens amid the reported side effects of the vaccines.
NCSC Chairman Franklin Quijano said some senior citizens are also unable to access vaccines since there is no available supply in their area, or they are not aware how to access it.
To address the issue, Quijano urged the family of senior citizens to encourage them to get inoculated by assuring them of the efficacy and safety of the Covid-19 jabs.
She also said LGUs are currently ramping up their efforts to reach out to senior citizens.
“The vaccine uptake is actually going to be determined by the motivation of our senior citizens to get vaccinated but also equally important is how fast can they access the vaccines,” she added.
The government is pushing for the vaccination of senior citizens with the local transmission of the delta variant of Covid-19.
DOH noted that more than 60 percent of the over 28,000 fatalities from Covid-19 are aged over 60 years old.