TOTOO PO, meron tayong lahat na karapatan para sa mabuting kalusugan pero hindi naman po puwede na pihikan dahil napakaraming Pilipino na dapat turukan.
Thus, presidential spokesman Harry Roque saying Filipinos cannot be choosy with the brand of Covid-19 vaccine that they would get from the national government.
This, even as he pushed for the government–procured 25 million doses of vaccine from China’s Sinovac Biotech, a part of which is expected to arrive by February.
Bad enough that the national government virtually controls which brand/s of vaccines to procure, retorted Sen. Ping Lacson. Pero por Diyos, por santo – that’s us, and surely many others – “Pati ba naman ang pagpili kung ano’ng ituturok sa braso ng mga Pilipino, hindi pa rin pwede mamili ang Pilipino?” So, he rued.
Indeed, Ping: “Bakit ko naman pipiliin ang brand na 50 percent lang ang efficacy at wala man lang application for Emergency Use Authorization, against other brands with 79 percent and/or 95 percent efficacy and have pending EUA approval from the Food and Drug Administration?”
Bayan Muna Rep. Ferdinand Gaite lectured Duterte’s official blabber: “Mr. Roque, if it is a matter of safety and effectivity, if it involves public money, then the people have the right to be ‘choosy.’ Trabaho niyo at pananagutan niyo sa publiko na siguruhin na ligtas at epektibo ‘yang bakuna.“
Adding: “Hindi naman kalabisang hingin na tiyakin ng pamahalaan na ligtas at epektibo ang gagamiting bakuna.“
As straightforward is public health expert Dr. Tony Leachon, once adviser of the national coronavirus task force: “That’s a very unfair statement coming from the spokesperson because to me it is enshrined in the Constitution that health is a basic right and it is about wellness.”
“We deserve to be choosy because we need to find the right vaccine for us based on efficacy and safety,” he said. “The government works for the people. I think the government should actually follow that particular aspect of looking for the right vaccine.”
Leachon upholding salus populi suprema lex esto, thus: “And if there’s safety concern, you need to heed the call of the customer, as well as the people, that you need to provide the right [and] the efficacious vaccine.”
Meanwhile, as of Monday, Jan. 11, all local governments that have signed advanced marketing commitments did so with only one vaccine maker –AstraZeneca. They are:
Bacolod City: No details yet on the number of doses
Baguio City: Doses for 190,000 people
Caloocan City: 600,000 doses
Dagupan City: 40,000 doses
Davao City: Doses for 1.2 million residents
Iloilo City: 600,000 doses
Mandaluyong City: Doses worth P200 million
Makati City: 1 million doses
Manila City: 800,000 doses
Muntinlupa City: 100,000 doses
Navotas City: 100,000 doses
Ormoc City: 270,000 doses (scheduled rollout: July)
Pasig City: 400,000 doses worth P100 million
Quezon City: 1.1 million doses
San Juan City: P50 million allocated
Taguig City: No details yet on the number of doses
Valenzuela City: 640,000 doses (scheduled arrival: second half of 2021)
Vigan: 100,000 to 120,000 doses
Zamboanga City: 410,000 doses
Yeah, Davao City opting for something other than the one pushed by the Duterte government.
Echos ka, Roque. Trulili.
