Member of vaccine panel supports mandatory COVID-19 vaccination

People troop to inoculation centers in three malls in Tagbilaran City, Bohol on the first day of the national vaccination drive. (Leo Udtohan/Inquirer Visayas)

MANILA, Philippines — An infectious disease expert and member of the Department of Science and Technology’s Vaccine Expert Panel said Wednesday that he supports mandatory COVID-19 vaccination.

“Yes, if this will be mandatory, I will really support that,” Dr. Rontgene Solante, chief of the Adult Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine unit of San Lazaro Hospital, told ABS-CBN News Channel’s Headstart when asked if he supports mandatory inoculation against coronavirus.

“At this point in time, we know that vaccines can protect us, we know how vaccines can prevent infection. We have suffered a lot, and why are we hesitant? We already have the vaccines, what still do we want? These are the things we need to balance in order to move on with our life,” he added.

Solante said that vaccine hesitancy may not be completely eradicated.

“Mukhang hindi mawawala ang vaccine hesitancy sa atin, and there are a lot of factors. Pwedeng cultural, may mga beliefs sila. In fact I talked to some of these [people] na talagang nagka-COVID na and until now they are not convinced that vaccines are safe for them,” he noted.

(It seems vaccine hesitancy will not be gone, and there are a lot of factors. It may be cultural. In fact, I talked to some people who had COVID but until now they are still not convinced that vaccines are safe for them.)

In his taped weekly briefing aired on Monday, President Rodrigo Duterte again floated the idea of mandatory vaccination amid the threat of the Omicron variant, which experts fear could be highly transmissible and evade antibodies. He said he will agree if the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases proposes to make vaccination mandatory.

However, acting presidential spokesman and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said that mandating the COVID-19 vaccination for everyone is up to Congress.

JPV