MANILA – Malacañang on Thursday stated that the Covid-19 vaccination drive of the government will not be hampered amid the election campaigns for local posts that will begin on Friday.
According to Acting presidential spokesperson Martin Andanar, the vaccination drive should not cease to help sustain the continued drop in the number of Covid-19 cases in the country.
“This occasion is likewise a good reminder that there will be no slowing down of our Covid-19 vaccination drive as we remain on track with our goal of having 90 million fully-vaccinated Filipinos before the end of June 2022,” he said in a press statement.
Over 65.1 million individuals or 72.41 percent of the government’s target population are now fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
Meanwhile, there 11.5 million individuals who have received their booster shots.
The National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC) earlier said plans are in place to guarantee that the Covid-19 vaccination drive would continue as it expects that local government units (LGUs) will have less output due to the campaign and election.
NVOC co-leader Dr. Kezia Rosario said involving the private sector would help in getting more people vaccinated.
Andanar, who is also the secretary of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), expressed confidence that the public would stay “vigilant” as the local election campaign season starts.
He urged the public, particularly those attending campaign-related events, to take precautions to avoid Covid-19 infections.
“We, therefore, ask everyone from the candidates to the general public to strictly comply with health and safety protocols and the guidelines set by the Commission on Elections in the conduct of their political activities, including campaign rallies and in-person campaigning,” he added.
In its weekly case bulletin, the Department of Health reported 3,572 new Covid-19 cases from March 14 to March 20, a 13 percent lower than the previous week.
This raises the nationwide tally to 3,674,694 Covid-19 cases.
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