It appears the Philippines is not the only country where people are hesitant to get vaccinated against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
In Russia, four regions have made it mandatory for workers in the retail, education, health care, public transportation, beauty, entertainment and other industries that serve a large number of people to get inoculated amid a rise in Covid-19 infections.
These are the capital Moscow, its surrounding region, the Siberian region of Kemerovo and the Far East region of Sakhalin.
The Associated Press report didn’t say why Russia, which approved its first domestically developed Covid-19 vaccine even before phase III of clinical trials could begin back in August, logs a slow immunization rate.
As of early June 2021, only 12 percent of its 146 million population has received at least one dose of the vaccine.
The Kremlin has ruled out ordering mandatory vaccinations nationwide, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying on Thursday, June 17, that regional governors “made their decisions based on local infections.”
However, several business associations are in a quandary.
They are obligated to vaccinate 60 percent of their workers by August or else face a fine of up to 1 million rubles (roughly US$14,000), but they can’t force people to get inoculated through administrative means.
In the Philippines, vaccine hesitancy can be blamed on several factors, including “rampant misinformation passed by word-of-mouth and conspiracy theories spread online about the vaccines.”
Despite efforts of the Department of Health to debunk several myths surrounding Covid-19 vaccination, rumors about people getting weak and eventually dying after getting the jab persist.
Some have not registered for the government’s vaccination program, which is free, because they want to choose which vaccine brand they want to be injected with.
Unfortunately for them, the government has no control of which brand is delivered to the country. Shipments from abroad arrive when they arrive, which is why local vaccine rollouts have to be temporarily suspended when supply runs out.
At any rate, the Philippines, like Russia, cannot legally force its people to get vaccinated. However, it can follow Russia’s example by allowing local governments to dictate policies that will suit and address local needs.