Palace renews call for Covid-19 vax equity

MANILA – Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Monday renewed his call for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccine equity, pointing out that vaccine donations under the COVAX facility were somehow meant to ease the “guilty conscience” of wealthy nations for monopolizing the supply.

This is the same call Roque made in his bid for a seat at the International Law Commission (ILC), a United Nations (UN) panel that develops and codifies international law.

“Ang pagkakaiba ng ating sinsusulong, ang COVAX voluntary, feel-good ng mga mayayamang bansa dahil mino-monopolize nila ang suplay ng vaccine. Dahil nga kinakailangang i-address ang guilty conscience, mamigay tayo ng konti sa mga mahihirap na bansa (The difference in what we’re pushing for is that donations under COVAX are voluntary, feel-good for rich countries because they are monopolizing the vaccine supply. They need to address their guilty conscience by giving some vaccines to poor countries),” he said in an event in the “Sa Bakuna, Panalo Ka” in Angeles City, Pampanga.

Roque said wealthy nations needed to do more than just donate, emphasizing the need to ensure that all countries have the tools to defeat the prevailing health crisis.

“Hindi po yan ang solusyon sa pandemiya dahil sinasabi ng WHO na no one is safe untill all of us is safe. Kinakailangan po kilalanin ng lahat ng mga bansa ang obligasyon na para matapos ang mga pandemiya, hindi lang po ang Covid-19, kinakailangan lahat magakroon ng bakuna dahil ito ang solusyon sa pandemiya (That’s not the solution to the pandemic because as WHO said, no one is safe until all of us are safe. Other countries need to recognize their obligation to ensure that all countries should have vaccines because this is the only solution to put an end to the pandemic),” he added.

Roque also backed efforts to push for the waiving of intellectual property protections on Covid-19 vaccines and treatments or the so-called Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Waiver.

“Kasama po tayo ng buong developing world sa kagustuhan natin na magkaroon ng vaccine equality at isa sa pamamaraan po diyan ay yung Waiver ng TRIPS protection. Ito po’y intellectual property at sinasabi natin buksan na yung intellectual property ng mga bakuna (We are one with the developing world in the desire to for vaccine equality and one of the ways to achieve that is TRIPS Waiver. We support the move to waive intellectual property protections of vaccines),” he said.

In a keynote speech delivered during the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 22 (Manila time), President Rodrigo Duterte expressed dismay that developing nations could not boost their Covid-19 vaccine supply because wealthy countries have the privilege to secure first the vaccine shots.

He said greater global cooperation would be the key to the successful fight against Covid-19.

“The plain fact is this pandemic will not end, unless the virus is defeated everywhere. Vaccines are key to achieving this,” Duterte said. “We recognize that only inclusive multilateralism can deliver the global public goods we need. And we believe that fairness, equality, and respect should always be the basis of our engagement with one another.”

As of Oct. 3, the Philippines had administered over 46 million Covid-19 jabs. Of this number, more than 21 million are second dose.

The national government’s target for population protection remains at 70 percent out of the total 110 million Filipinos.