Only 36.3 percent of Filipino adults aged 60 and older are vaccinated against influenza, which is very low compared to the World Health Organization target of 75 percent, despite it being the fifth leading cause of morbidity.
On the other hand, only 52.9 percent of seniors have gotten pneumonia shots, although it is the fifth leading cause of deaths nationwide.
According to infectious disease expert Dr. Rontgene Solante, vaccination coverage among elderly Filipinos has been low due to vaccine hesitancy and accessibility problems.
“Vaccines are not just for children,” said Solante, the president of the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP), in a recent press conference. “The global burden of vaccine-preventable diseases remains high in adults, contributing to substantial morbidity, mortality, and utilization of healthcare resources and costs.”
The PCP has called on the government to expand its immunization program and subsidize vaccines for adults, especially senior citizens, who are also vulnerable to many vaccine-preventable diseases.
Vaccine expert Dr. Lulu Bravo, a professor emeritus at the University of the Philippines Manila – College of Medicine, said that many adults were not used to getting vaccinated again, after they were immunized as children. She said one factor preventing the elderly from getting shots was their inability to go by themselves to medical facilities, and their hesitancy to ask their children or relatives to accompany them.
Adults can be protected from 14 deadly diseases through vaccination. These are shingles, hepatitis A and B, whooping cough, mumps, measles, tetanus, flu, meningococcal disease, chicken pox, rubella, HPV, and diphtheria. However only two vaccines are subsidized by the government under the DOH’s national immunization program, which is more focused on targeting children.
While vaccine hesitancy among adults was on the rise due to the Dengvaxia vaccine scare in 2017, many have become more open after seeing the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. It is now the responsibility of doctors, with the help of media, to educate and provide accurate information on vaccines, especially on their safety and effectiveness.
With so many vaccine-preventable diseases making a comeback, mostly due to the gaps in vaccination which became an issue during the COVID-19 pandemic, a more concerted effort to push for the vaccination of more Filipinos, both children and adults alike, has become necessary. Hopefully both the government and private sector are ready and willing to close this gap that could have a significant impact on the public health system of our country.*
