As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise, the government must hasten their COVID-19 pandemic response and effectively address the problems of the national vaccination program.

The slow vaccination of health care workers, senior citizens and persons with co-morbidities, compounded by reports of well-connected individuals and government officials jumping the line add to grave concerns on the COVID-19 inoculation program. The government’s target is 70% (77 million) of the population to be vaccinated in 2021. But as of April 13, according to the Department of Health (DOH) and Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging and Infectious Diseases (IATF EID), only 0.99% (1 million) received at least one dose while a mere 0.15% (166,090) received two full doses. Based on government targets, 8.0%-9.0% (9-10 million) of the population should have been vaccinated by now, but that is not the case.

The huge lack of vaccines is the result of slow procurement. The indemnification fund is required by pharmaceutical companies in the procurement of vaccines, but the government has yet to finalize it into law, thus slowing down the negotiation process of vaccine procurement. Then there is the issue of red tape hampering the vaccine procurement process, like the failure to secure a deal with Pfizer for 10 million doses last December 2020 because government agencies were still discussing who should lead the negotiations with Pfizer. As a result, there are not enough vaccines for those who are high on the prioritization list. The government loaned Php 58.5 billion for the vaccine, and it was loaned from several international financial institutions like the Asian Development Bank and World Bank.

From the planned 4,512 vaccination sites nationwide, only 2,988 or 66% are operating. This means every vaccination site serves an average of 14 barangays. At the current rate of 47,545 vaccinations per day, it may take up to 4 years before the total number of the target population is vaccinated. Ideally, 210,823 vaccinations should be made per day in order to inoculate 70% in two years — the government’s target.

The lack of health care workers for vaccination teams also significantly slows down vaccination rates. In some vaccination sites, health workers alter tasks just so they could vaccinate more people before the registration is closed at 5:00 PM. For example, mass screening for risks by way of hand-raising among waiting patients was done instead of one-on-one screening with a healthcare worker. With little compensation and benefits, the LGUs’ efforts to recruit volunteers are far from successful. To make matters worse, the national government has not risen to the massive outcry for mass-hiring of health workers for the vaccination program to this day.

These are the problems that the national vaccination program faces. The government must immediately reassess their approach and undertake immediate action based on evidence. Prolonging these problems will greatly affect the efforts of our healthcare workers to stop the COVID-19 pandemic. ##