Wider information campaign urged to convince seniors to get COVID-19 jab

The National Commission of Senior Citizens (NCSC) on Saturday called for a wider information campaign to persuade older people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

According to NCSC Chairperson Franklin Quijano, while vaccination acceptance appears to be high among the elderly, some are still unwilling to get the shot due to a fear of needles and belief in unfounded claims such as a vaccinated person turning into a zombie.

"Iyong karayom talagang kung tingnan mo nakakatakot ‘di ba (The needles appear to be a source of fear) so we have to assure them that these are just temporary pains and after that tataas iyong immunity (the immunity level will go up)," Quijano said at the Laging Handa briefing.

"And there are also those who read so much and believe in all the theories including magiging [a person's turning into a] ‘zombie’ and that is, I think, one difficulty we have," he added.

Quijano then urged local government units to intensify their COVID-19 vaccination campaign and to follow the best practices.

"May mga ilang lugar lang na hindi pa naipapaabot iyong information dissemination; so kailangan talaga an extra mile for the health workers and for government to be able to bring it down to the LGU level," he said.

(There are still places that have not been reached by the information dissemination campaign. Thus, there is a need for health workers and the government to go the extra mile to be able to bring it down to the LGU level.)

He also asked authorities to have a dialogue with religious leaders.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has previously recommended that the Philippines vaccinate 2.5 million senior citizens against COVID-19.

Acting WHO Representative to the Philippines Dr. Rajendra Yadav identified Cebu, Negros Occidental, Batangas, Cavite, and Bulacan as provinces with a large number of unvaccinated seniors. — VBL, GMA News