MANILA - The "National Vaccine Day" program is being proposed to be carried out from Nov. 29 until Dec. 1, National Task Force against COVID-19 Chief Implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. said on Monday.

"Tinataon natin yung National Heroes Day, Nov. 30, kasi parang ang messaging natin (is) ang lahat ng tao na magpabakuna ay isang bayani," Galvez said at a Laging Handa public briefing.

(It will coincide on National Heroes Day, Nov. 30, because we want to deliver a message that those who get vaccinated are heroes.)

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He said the program is meant to boost the country's vaccination rate, especially in areas where there are issues as regards inoculating residents.

Among regions with a low vaccination rate are the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), Bicol, Western Mindanao, SOCCSKSARGEN, and MIMAROPA.

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More than 29.4 million people in the country are already fully vaccinated against COVID-19, while over 34.7 million others have received their first dose, based on the monitoring of the ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group.

The country has received a total of 110.6 million doses of different vaccine brands since delivery started on Feb. 28 this year. It started rolling out the jabs on March 1.

The government aims to fully vaccinate up to 77 million people for the country to achieve herd immunity against COVID-19.

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With over 47 million doses of vaccines currently in storage and a delivery rate of 1.5 million vaccines a day in October, Galvez said the country's vaccine supply is now stable, which allows for a mass vaccination event.

He urged the public to be vigilant in consuming information on social media and not to fall for anti-vax propaganda.

"Ang lahat ng bakuna na ginagamit natin ngayon ay epektibo sa real world data. Sana, 'wag kayo maniwala sa fake news at ginagawa ng anti-vaxxers. Kailangang kailangan nating magpabakuna. Nakita natin na bumagsak ang ating cases dahil mataas ang pagpapabakuna sa Metro Manila," Galvez said.

(All the vaccines we are using now are effective, based on real world data. Don't believe fake news and the propaganda of anti-vaxxers. We need to get vaccinated. We've seen that cases have dropped because of the high vaccination rate in Metro Manila.)

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Galvez said a "massive information drive campaign" about the safety and efficacy of vaccines against COVID-19 is necessary to battle misinformation and hesitancy surrounding vaccination.

- with a report from Vivienne Gulla, ABS-CBN News

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