Duterte ‘consistent’ with preference for China’s vaccine

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte remains “consistent” with his preference for China-made vaccines, Malacañang said Thursday.

In a Palace press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte has already decided which vaccine brand to receive but noted that he was not at liberty to announce it.

“I know of the decision of the President already. I can say that the President’s decision is consistent but he prefers Chinese. But I am not at authority to make public that decision,” he said.

Roque said the President himself will make that pronouncement.

Last Tuesday, Roque said Duterte will be seeking his physician’s opinion about which Covid-19 vaccine brand to get.

“Let’s just say this issue will have to be discussed by the President with his physician. He is, of course, under advice of his physician,” he said in a Feb. 9 press briefing.

He also noted that his physician would also take into consideration the framework developed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), including an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA).

Roque also maintained that Duterte has decided to be inoculated with the Covid-19 vaccine “in private.”

Initially, the country expected to receive the first 117,000 doses of US drugmaker Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine in mid-February, courtesy of the COVAX facility led by the World Health Organization (WHO).

National Policy Against Covid-19 deputy chief implementer Vince Dizon later said the arrival of the Pfizer vaccine doses will be delayed due to a paperwork processing.

However, he said the delivery of the vaccines, can still be expected this month.

The country is also expected to receive at least 5 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines from COVAX within the month.

Currently, only Pfizer and AstraZeneca have received EUAs from the FDA.