MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte has not yet received any vaccine shot against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), Presidential Security Group (PSG) Chief Col. Jesus Durante said on Monday.
In a statement, Durante said Duterte is still waiting for a “perfect” or “appropriate” vaccine before he subjects himself to inoculation.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque earlier said he has no knowledge about whether the President has received any vaccine.
“I have no information, personal information kung nabakunahan na po ang Presidente (if the President has been vaccinated),” he said.
In a meeting with selected Cabinet members and infectious disease experts in Malacañang last Saturday, Duterte asked Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director General Eric Domingo if it is possible to be inoculated with more than one brand of vaccine.
“Ako ang may problema ngayon. For example lang, puwede akong magpabakuna ulit pagdating ng Pfizer mo? (I’m the one with a problem now. For example, can I get vaccinated again when Pfizer is available?),” he asked Domingo.
Since a Covid-19 vaccine was only recently developed, Domingo said it would be difficult to determine whether it is safe to receive various combinations of the vaccine.
“Kasi po bagong-bago pa ‘yung mga bakuna. Wala pa po tayong experience ‘no doon sa paggamit po ng isang bakuna at ang ibang bakuna pa (Because the vaccine is still new. We don’t have any experience in the use of the vaccine and other vaccines). Although, I think our immunologists here would say na possible naman po ‘no (that it’s possible),” he said.
Domingo said more than one vaccine might not be advisable especially since it is relatively new in comparison with vaccines for other diseases.
“Kaya lang masyado lang pong bago pa kasi tapos iba-iba po ‘yung platform, iba-ibang teknolohiya na hindi pa po siguro tayo ready na paghalu-haluin (It’s very new with different platforms, different technologies that perhaps we are not ready yet to mix),” he added.
Last August, Duterte volunteered to be among the first to be inoculated with Sputnik V, the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Russia.
“I will tell President [Vladimir] Putin that I have great trust in your studies combatting [Covid-19] and I believe that the vaccine that you have produced is really good for humanity,” he said.
Currently, the government is negotiating with several pharmaceutical companies for the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines including Pfizer Inc., Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Novavax Inc, and Sinovac.
The government is eyeing to roll out the Covid-19 vaccines as early as March 2021.