Local chief executives in the province gather in the provincial capitol for the 3rd Provincial Peace and Order Council meeting where the status of Covid-19 vaccination in the province was tackled. (Michael John Paclar/PIA Lanao del Sur)
MARAWI CITY —As the government continues to ramp up its vaccination program, local government units (LGUs) in Lanao del Sur were told to mobilize village officials in the advocacy drive to boost vaccine confidence.
Dr. Alinader Minalang, chief of the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO), said village officials could assist in intensifying the information campaign down to the grassroots level due to their proximity to the people. They could also help in allaying misinformation and doubts about the vaccines.
“The low awareness to this vaccination resulted to high vaccine hesitancy dahil hindi nila naiintindihan, hindi naipapaliwanag ng mabuti (because the do not understand, was not explained well). We have to focus now on the barangay level in our advocacy and our implementation,” he said.
Minalang also reiterated that all village officials should be required to get vaccinated saying they cannot be effective advocates of the vaccination if they are not vaccinated.
Ministry of Local Government (MILG) Provincial Director Mcmillan Lucman backed the recommendation of Minalang saying barangays serve as the frontline force of the city and municipal governments.
He said the implementation of the vaccination program can only be successful with the full support of village officials.
Meanwhile, the IPHO chief appealed for full cooperation from LGUs to achieve herd immunity in the province.
“We are taken as one province, kapag hindi nag move yung ibang munisipyo affected yung mga good performing. Kasi kahit na yung 38 municipalities ay fully vaccinated at isang munisipyo lang ang hindi vaccinated, risk pa rin yun sa buong province (when other municipalities do not move, good performing is affected. Because even if the 38 municipalities are fully vaccinated and only one municipality is not vaccinated, that is still a risk for the entire province),” Minalang said. (APB/PIA Lanao del Sur)
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