Senator and Chair of the Senate Committee on Health Christopher “Bong” Go urged the Filipino public anew to get their COVID-19 vaccines after the Department of Health and the National Task Force Against COVID-19 revealed that some Filipinos have been turning down jabs which in turn affects the country’s vaccination rate.

“Ako po ay nakikiusap sa mga kababayan nating Pilipino, meron na pong 64 million Filipinos ang bakunado sa ngayon at napatunayan naman natin na kapag bakunado ka, maiiwasan po ang pagkalala ng sakit sa COVID-19 at pagkamatay,” said Go in an ambush interview after the blessing and soft opening of the Davao Occidental General Hospital in Malita on Tuesday, March 15.

“So ano pa bang inaantay ninyo, nakikiusap kami sa inyo, wag na po natin hintayin na tumaas na naman ang kaso, magkasakit kayo at back to zero na naman tayo,” he stressed.

NTF chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier revealed that the vaccination rate has “dramatically declined” month after month, plummeting by 68% to 8.7 million last February from a record high of 27.1 million in November. This prompted the government to schedule its fourth nationwide vaccination drive from March 10 to 12.

The government said that instead of holding another round of nationwide vaccination drive, it will instead focus on vaccinating areas with low inoculation rates and raise their vaccine coverage. It will also focus on areas that are yet to inoculate 70% to 80% of their elderlies.

In a separate statement issued on the same day, Go echoed the government’s initiative to strengthen the vaccination drive in remote areas. He also reminded them to ensure that Filipinos are well-protected from the virus before relaxing restrictions further.

“Palakasin pa natin ang pagbabakuna sa buong bansa lalo na sa malalayong lugar. Bago luwagan, siguraduhin muna nating may proteksyon ang ating mga kababayan dahil mahirap magback-to-zero kung biglang kumalat muli ang sakit,” he remarked.

As some Metro Manila mayors and other local leaders are eyeing a shift to Alert Level 0, Go advised, “Sa ngayon, hintayin muna natin ang rekomendasyon ng Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases at desisyon ni Pangulong (Rodrigo) Duterte.”

“Tiwala naman ako na kapakanan ng mga Pilipino ang palaging isinasaalang-alang sa panahong dahan-dahan at maingat na pagbubukas ng ating ekonomiya,” he continued.

The senator then reassured that the government will continue to implement measures based on good science.

“We will be guided by evidence-based recommendations of our experts and the IATF. After all, since Day 1 of the pandemic, all our measures are based on good science,” noted Go.

“Bilang chair ng Senate Committee on Health, dapat patuloy nating maingat na binabalanse ang kabuhayan, ginhawa at kaligtasan ng ating mamamayan,” he added.

In the event that the alert classification in the country will be downgraded to Alert Level 0, Go reminded Filipinos not to get complacent and to continue taking precautions until the pandemic is over.

“At kung sakaling ibaba man nila sa Alert Level 0, dapat patuloy pa rin tayong mag-iingat at huwag maging kumpiyansa hanggang tuluyang matapos ang pandemyang ito,” he concluded.