After false news spread that unvaccinated residents would be deprived of cash help or would be barred from leaving home during a two-week lockdown following this thousand of people jammed on coronavirus vaccination centres in the Philippine capital on Friday.
As the city is witnessing a spike in new COVID-19 infections, the health officials placed Metropolitan Manila backed under lockdown until Aug. 20, say could be due to the highly contagious delta variant threatens to overwhelm hospitals. Three other regions, including nearby Laguna province, were also placed under lockdown until Aug. 15.
An eight-hour curfew was imposed in the capital region starting at 8 p.m. and police checkpoints were created in city boundaries and only authorized workers for essential businesses and residents on medical emergencies or food-buying shops can venture out.
Just a day before the lockdown, a fake news was circulated on social media that unvaccinated residents would either be prohibited from leaving their homes to go to work or deprived of 1,000 pesos ($20) help which the led the large crowds heading for vaccination centers in the cities of Manila, Las Pinas and Antipolo even without prior registrations.
Thousands lined up for several blocks in designated government centers and shopping malls to get their vaccine shots, at times sparking arguments and complaints and snarling traffic.
Up to 22,000 people showed up outside vaccination centers before dawn in Manila alone. However, people inclined in groups and arrived in vans from nearby provinces, some “rowdily removing barricades,” city officials said, following police reports.
Under Manila’s inoculation program many were not registered. Meanwhile the, police were forced to stop vaccinations in at least one of the shopping malls and asked the crowds to return home. Critics partly blamed President Rodrigo Duterte for the confusion. The brash-speaking leader warned Filipinos last week that those who refuse to get vaccinated will not be allowed to leave their homes as a safeguard against the spread of the delta variant. He acknowledged that there was no specific law for such a restriction. For people who refuse to receive COVID-19 vaccine, Duterte said, “well, for all I care, you can die anytime.”
The Department of Health said in a statement following the chaotic scenes, “We cannot allow our national immunization program to become superspreader events, especially given the threat posed by the delta variant.” Officials later stressed that even unvaccinated residents could venture out in case of medical emergency.
They can also obtain village permission to buy food, medicine or other essential items. They cautioned the public not to fall for fake news on social media and urged them to follow official government announcements.