The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that mandatory COVID-19 vaccination is “a very difficult proposition.”
“This is really personal autonomy, to have someone being a healthy person being injected with something. ‘Pag nagbigay ako ng EUA (emergency use authority) required na kailangan merong consent ng patient na magpabakuna,” FDA director general Eric Domingo told ANC’s Headstart.
(When I give EUA, it requires that the patient give consent before getting inoculated.)
“May side effects pa ‘yan natin na hindi pa alam. Medyo tricky na ‘yung making vaccination compulsory, making a vaccine under EUA compulsory, that’s even a little more complicated for me. That’s a very difficult proposition.”
(There are side effects that we don’t know yet. Making vaccination compulsory is already tricky, making a vaccine under EUA compulsory that’s even a little more complicated for me.)
A lawmaker from the House of Representatives is now proposing mandatory COVID-19 vaccination, depending on the sectors to be identified by the Department of Health (DOH).
FDA: Mandatory COVID-19 vaccination ‘very debatable’
This is stated in the new House Bill 9252 by Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga, something to be known as the “Mandatory COVID-19 Immunization Act of 2021.”
“The COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021 shall be mandatory for persons as may be determined by the DOH and shall be given for free at any government hospital or health center, and as provided in Republic Act No. 11525, PROVIDED, That inoculation must, at all times, be science and evidence based.”
“Consequently, a mandatory mass wide COVID-19 Vaccination Program is imperative to solve the present COVID-19 pandemic and achieve ‘herd immunity’ or ‘population immunity,’” explained Barzaga.
“The World Health Organization supports achieving ‘herd immunity’ through vaccination, not by allowing a disease to spread through any segment of the population that would result in unnecessary cases and deaths.”
Currently, only healthcare workers, senior citizens, and people with other serious illnesses (comorbidities) are vaccinated against COVID-19. It is estimated that in May or June 2021, the A4 priority lists will be vaccinated, which includes market vendors, public transport workers, religious leaders, and other sectors that often face the public.
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