MANILA, Philippines — Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said Tuesday that “all voters” may already be “fully vaccinated” by the time national elections take place in May next year.
And this, he noted, could define how the polls will be conducted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Nograles said the Comelec, the sole institution in charge of the elections, is yet to release guidelines on how the 2022 polls will be carried out as it is likely waiting on the possible pandemic situation in the coming year.
“I suspect the Comelec is also waiting kung ano ‘yung magiging situation natin come 2022. Ako, by that time, sa 2022 May elections, I think we would have covered everybody for vaccination already,” he said in a forum when asked about the government’s plan for the 2022 elections amid the pandemic.
(I suspect the Comelec is also waiting to see what the situation will become in 2022. For me, by that time, I think we would have covered for vaccination already.
“All voters by that time fully vaccinated na ‘yan,” he added.
According to Nograles, the government would probably be focusing on vaccinating children and teenagers by 2022.
The latest data presented by Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez showed that there are around 60 million registered voters for 2022 polls, including the 4.3 million new voters.
Jimenez, however, said they expect this figure to increase to around 61 to 62 million before the registration ends on September 30.
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The government is aiming to vaccinate about 50 to 70 million adult Filipinos by the end of this year to achieve population protection or herd immunity.
So far, the Philippines have fully vaccinated 11.3 million individuals.