COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 16 Feb) – The Bangsamoro Government Health Ministry blames fake news, cultural beliefs and inaccessible areas as the reasons for the low vaccination rate in the region, even the lowest in the country’s “Bayanihan, Bakunahan” campaign.
Dr. Bashary Latiph in his office at the Ministry of Health of BARMM. MindaNews photo by FERDINANDH CABRERA
Health Minister Bashary Latiph, said that fake news, hesitancy due to cultural beliefs and scattered inaccessible areas, either in island provinces or the mountainous terrains of the region, are the major challenges to get constituents of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to get the jab.
“There really are a lot of factors. Among those are hesitancy, and fake news domineering in the region,” said Dr. Latiph.
“And that’s connected to cultural beliefs, of elders arguing that they have not been vaccinated since birth yet they are still alive now, in their ripe old age,” he added.
The government has vowed to focus the COVID-19 inoculation in the BARMM and other “inaccessible areas” during the extension of the third wave of its mass vaccination drive, Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año said.
Only 1.4 million BARMM residents, or 30 percent of its target population to achieve herd immunity, have been vaccinated so far.
The Bayanihan, Bakunahan III is scheduled to kick off on February 18. The campaign will include children aged 5 to 11 in preparation for the face-to-face classes.
Latiph assured they will expand the availability of vaccination sites in the third campaign.
He noted that the help of the military and the police has drastically increased the number of those vaccinated.
“Every time they check on checkpoints in those areas, there are chances we can identify those unwilling or uninformed citizens about the vaccinations,” he said.
Vaccination hubs will also be put in place near the checkpoint areas, Latiph added.
He said that the Ministry of Health prefers to avail the one-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine to address the issue involving hard-to-access communities. (Ferdinandh Cabrera / MindaNews)