No ‘excess’ Covid-19 vaccines: Duterte

MANILA – There is no “excess” Covid-19 vaccines, some Filipinos just refuse to get vaccinated, President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday.

Duterte made the comment amid concerns over the 27 million Covid-19 vaccines are set to expire in July.

“Kung may mga Pilipino marami pa hindi pa nakapagbakuna o ayaw makipagbakuna e hindi naman kasalanan ng gobyerno (If there are many Filipinos that have not been vaccinated yet or refuse to get vaccinated, it’s not the government’s fault),” he said in a prerecorded Talk to the People.

He emphasized that the government procured the right number of doses for the target population for inoculation.

“Kung sabihin na sobra sobra ang bakuna, hindi sobra sobra ang bakuna. Kung estimated natin na 100 million, 100 million ang ating inorder. Hindi tayo puwede magkulang. Di na bale mag sobra (If they say there’s an excess of vaccines, it is not an excess. If we estimated vaccines for 100 million, we ordered 100 million. We cannot have a shortage. Never mind if there is more than enough),” he added.

Duterte said the best way to avoid Covid-19 vaccine wastage is to either donate them to other countries or conduct house-to-house vaccinations.

“So itong mga bakuna mag expire, either ibigay natin ito sa mga countries na wala pa or siguraduhin natin na ano nalang, we will embark in a program, last-minute na mag house-to-house nalang sa mga barangay (So these vaccines that are about to expire, we can give them to other countries that do not have them or we will embark in a program, last minute to conduct house to house vaccination in barangays),” he said.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the estimated vaccine wastage rate in the country is currently at 1.54 percent. This figure is below the 10 percent indicative wastage rate used by the World Health Organization (WHO).

As of April 2, around 67 million Filipinos are fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

The government aims to fully vaccinate at least 77 million Filipinos in the first quarter of 2022 and inoculate 90 million by the end of the second quarter of the year.

Don’t derail vax drive

Meanwhile, Duterte renewed his appeal for communist rebels not to derail the government’s Covid-19 vaccination drive in rural communities.

“Kayong mga NPA [New People’s Army], huwag ninyo barahin yung mga tao na aakyat diyan, especially the health workers (You NPA, do not prevent people from going up there, especially the health workers),” he said.

He said NPA rebels may also line up for free Covid-19 jabs “on the grounds of humanity.”

“Kung gusto ninyo magpabakuna, ipasali ko kayo pero huwag ninyo (If you want to get vaccinated, I will include you but)…do not derail the program. That’s what I’m trying to tell you,” he said.

Duterte urged communist rebels to surrender, adding that the government would provide them with free housing and livelihood.

“You surrender, drop your weapons tapos mag-usap tayo. May bahay kayo, may trabaho (then let’s talk. You will be given housing, work), TESDA [Technical Education And Skills Development Authority] would teach you new skills that you do not know,” he added.