(UPDATED) Herd immunity ー the indirect protection from an infectious disease among the population ー is the goal that most governments, including the Philippines, hope to achieve in one to two years’ time through vaccination against COVID-19.
Convincing 70 million adults out of the 110 million Filipinos to accept the novel vaccines, however, is among the many hurdles in the COVID-19 immunization program.
The Philippines, most hit by the pandemic in the Western Pacific Region of the World Health Organization as of March 19, rolled out the first jabs from Sinovac BioTech on March 1 in different government hospitals.
About 600,000 doses of Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccines, donated by the Chinese government, arrived at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City on Feb. 28. (See A show of trust: Philippine public health officials receive first jabs of Sinovac vaccine – Vera Files)
Find out in this last episode what to expect as soon as the COVID-19 vaccination begins in your area.
Watch Part 1 and Part 2 of the series.
ERRATUM: This article was updated to reflect the correct information that the Philippines is the most-hit country by COVID-19 in the WHO’s Western Pacific Region as of March 19, not Southeast Asia as originally stated. We apologize for the mistake.
Sources
Official Gazette, R.A. 11525, Feb. 26, 2021
World Health Organization, COVID-19 Situation in WHO – Western Pacific Region, March 11, 2021
World Health Organization, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Herd immunity, lockdowns and COVID-19, Dec. 31, 2020
Allan Francisco Facebook Page, PANOORIN: Panayam kay Chareluck Santos, Head Nurse ng PGH na unang nagturok ng COVID-19 vaccine na sinovac kay Dr. Gerardo Legaspi, Mar. 1, 2021
PTV, #LagingHanda Public Briefing, Feb. 24, 2021
PTV, Laging Handa Special Coverage Pagbabakuna Kontra COVID-19, Mar. 1, 2021
Senate of the Philippines, Committee on the Whole, Jan. 11, 2021
Department of Health, Updated CEIR Registration, Jan. 19, 2021
Department of Health, Philippine National COVID-19 Vaccination Deployment Plan, Jan. 31, 2021
World Health Organization, WHO’s Science in 5 on COVID-19 – Herd Immunity – 28 August 2020, Aug. 28, 2020
(Guided by the code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network at Poynter, VERA Files tracks the false claims, flip-flops, misleading statements of public officials and figures, and debunks them with factual evidence. Find out more about this initiative and our methodology.)
Read other interesting stories:
Click thumbnails to read related articles.
