Former Tourism Sec. Ace Durano | Contributed Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Cebu gubernatorial candidate Joseph Felix Mari ‘Ace’ Durano is urging the Provincial Government to step up in its COVID-19 vaccination drive.
In a statement sent to reporters, Durano suggested that the Capitol should be leveraging its media arm and audience reach to conduct massive information drive on COVID-19 vaccines “to address hesitancy and improve vaccine utilization in the province.”
“Daghan ta’g vaccines nga wala magamit kay daghan nag-alangin. Daghan sad kaayo’g mabasahan sa social media ang mga tawo nga magduha-duha na sila. (We still have unused vaccines because many remain hesitant [to get vaccination]. We continue to read on social media that there are still those who are unconvinced). To address this, Capitol should use its big media budget to give people the information that they need,” said Durano.
Durano pointed to the recent findings from the Visayas Vaccination Operations Center (VVOC) that showed that Cebu province has over 700,000 unutilized COVID-19 vaccines as of October 10.
“Lisud kaayo kung masayang ra ni ang mga bakuna. Mas madugay ta’g jumpstart sa atong economy. Ang kailangan nato, proper information from a proper source; dili kanang nadunggan nimo sa imong silingan nga nadunggan rapud niya sa iyang paryente,” he added.
(We do not want these vaccines to go to waste. This can also cause delays in the jumpstart of our economy. What we we need is proper information coming from a proper source not the information that we hear from our neighbors who also heard such information from a relative.)
The former Tourism secretary will be running against incumbent Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia in the May 2022 elections.
Among the plans he had for the Capitol, should he be chosen as the province’s new governor, is to boost the province’s COVID-19 vaccination drive.
As of October 15, data from Project Balik Buhay (PBB) showed that Cebu province has administered a total of 828,373 doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
Cebu province, with a population of more than 3 million, needs to inoculate at least 2 million individuals to achieve herd immunity.
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