Aga, Family Receive Jabs in Muntinlupa; DILG Asks Why

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) will seek an explanation from the Muntinlupa City government on the vaccination of celebrity couple Aga and Charlene Muhlach and their children.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said on Wednesday, June 2, they would check if there were violations in the vaccination protocols set by the national government.

“I’ll look into this. We haven’t received details except what is in the news,” he said in a Viber message.

The local government of Muntinlupa, on its Facebook page, posted photographs of the couple and their twins, Andres and Atasha, both 19, on Tuesday, June 1, getting vaccinated at a parking lot of a shopping mall in the city.

The Muntinlupa city government said Muhlach underwent the step-by-step line and registration process before he and his family received their jabs.

However, the local government did not mention under which category Muhlach and his family were included in the vaccination program.

The national government is currently prioritizing those under the A1 category who are medical frontliners; A2, senior citizens; and A3, persons with comorbidities.

Año said the national government is rolling out the vaccination for the A4 category, which includes economic frontliners.

“Rolling out na din tayo sa A4 so we'll check on that,” he noted.

Second dose

As this developed,  Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases’ data analyst and epidemiologist John Wong disclosed on Wednesday that some 2.1 million individuals who already received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine “should have come back by now for their second dose.”

But so far, he noted only 1.07 million vaccinees out of 3,101,559 million from March 1 to May 29 have returned to get their second shot.

Wong said they have yet to determine why these recipients have failed to get their second jabs.

Currently, there are five vaccines available in the Philippines and they are all given in two doses.  These are Sinovac, AstraZeneca,  Pfizer-BioNtech, and Gamaleya.

For her part, Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire underscored the need to complete the vaccination to get the full protection against COVID-19.

"All our experts are saying that the first dose is really not enough. You need to get your second dose because it provides you with the maximum protection of the vaccine," she said.

Vergeire added those who missed their scheduled second dose can just go to their vaccination sites to get inoculated again.

President Duterte urged the public anew on Wednesday to get vaccinated as soon as possible.

The government is eyeing to provide protection for majority of the residents in Metro Manila by Nov. 27 instead of herd immunity for the entire population.

Duterte reiterated the vaccine is the only way for the Philippines to fully reopen the economy.

“I invite all our (fellowmen) to be vaccinated at the earliest possible opportunity because this is the most, if not the only way, effective way, to defeat COVID-19 pandemic,” the President said in a video message posted on the government’s social media pages.

Duterte, 76, echoed the views of experts that the vaccines will provide protection to the most vulnerable sectors of the population – the senior citizens and those with comorbidities who are among the priority groups identified by the health department for vaccination.

“Let us all keep in mind that the vaccine will not only protect you from the virus, it will also protect your loved ones, especially the sick and elderly,” he said.

 Duterte urged the public for their participation in the “Resbakuna: Kasangga ng BIDA” campaign, which he said is necessary if “we are to reclaim our normal lives.”

“To the Filipino people, let me assure you that the government will continue to do its best to protect you until we overcome this health crisis together,” he said. “Let us heal as one nation. Kapwa Pilipino, magpabakuna na po tayo.”