About 2.4 million senior citizens nationwide are not yet vaccinated against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), a health official said Monday.
In a Laging Handa briefing, Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje noted that only 68 percent of the target senior citizen population have received their first dose of Covid-19 jabs, 70 percent have been fully vaccinated and 14 percent already got booster shots.
âItâs not vaccine hesitancy, some senior citizens donât want to be vaccinated because theyâre already at the later years of their lives,â said Cabotaje, who is also the National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC) chief.
To address the issue, Cabotaje said it would be best to make the vaccination process easier and quicker for senior citizens since most of them dislike going through many procedures.
Earlier, some local government units (LGUs) conducted door-to-door Covid-19 vaccination and arranged transportation to inoculation sites for senior citizens.
Currently, the NVOC is planning to bring the vaccination centers closer to senior citizens, especially in areas where the inoculation rate of this target population is low.
To focus on areas needing attention, Cabotaje guaranteed the NVOC will work more closely with the senior citizen groups and the LGUs. (PNA)
