(File photo)
MANILA – The healthcare commission of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is pushing for the continued propagation of vaccine confidence in every community.
Fr. Dan Cancino, executive secretary of the CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Health Care (ECHC), said the effort to explain to the public the importance of the vaccine could help them be protected against infectious diseases such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
"We will continue to spread confidence in vaccination. Because we don't know what will happen, especially for the health of the people,” he said in an interview over Church-run Radio Veritas.
Cancino cited the government's ongoing Covid-19 vaccination campaign as he urged the people to have themselves vaccinated and participate in the campaign to fight the infection, as records showed that cases dropped with more people being immunized.
“The cases of Covid-19 are decreasing, but there are still cases, and those who are affected are the vulnerable groups. There are still deaths due to Covid but not like before. Maybe there are other complications, comorbidities, and that is unavoidable,” he said.
“So we have ways to fight it. So let's take advantage of it (by getting vaccinated),” the Catholic priest added.
Early last month, the Department of Health (DOH) started distributing Covid-19 bivalent vaccines for priority groups such as the healthcare workers and senior citizens.
Currently, the DOH received 391,000 doses of Cominarty Pfizer-BioNtech-adapted bivalent vaccines from the Lithuanian government on June 3.
The vaccine will be distributed as the third booster dose to priority groups who have received a second booster shot four to six months ago.
Based on recent data, the DOH has distributed nearly 180 million Covid-19 vaccine doses since the vaccination campaign began in 2021. (PNA)
