Microchips in COVID jabs? Gov't urged to debunk vax misinformation

MANILA - A commuter safety advocate on Tuesday said the government should address the concerns of unvaccinated individuals in their hesitancy to get coronavirus shots.

Elvira Medina, chairperson of the National Center for Commuter Safety and Protection, said some unvaccinated commuters refused to get the vaccine because of a "conspiracy theory" that a microchip will be injected on the recipients of COVID-19 vaccines.

"The agencies must look into the reasons and document the reasons why these people do not want to be vaccinated and address them at that kasi in the past, it is being ignored, it is not being answered," she told ANC's Headstart. 

"We have to answer that right off and clearly so that we can deliver to them the right message. We cannot ignore their reasons," she said.

The Department of Transportation barred beginning Monday the unvaccinated from traveling in public vehicles in Metro Manila in an effort to restrict their movement and protect them from getting the virus.

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Asked if she thinks such policy is discriminatory, Medina said: "It’s not because we look at the bigger picture, we look at the bigger chunk of our society who are the commuters and have been vaccinated…We have to protect them from people who do not want to get vaccinated and who would like to risk the lives of other people and risk their lives."

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