MANILA, Philippines — Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Teodoro “Teddyboy” Locsin Jr. on Wednesday posed one question: “Who is the criminal idiot who stopped vaccination?” in reference to the surge of dengue cases in the country.
The Foreign Affairs secretary tweeted this as he disclosed that the wife of his personal driver died of dengue and pneumonia.
“The wife of my personal driver James and the mother of 3, all under 12 years old, died of dengue and pneumonia,” Locsin said in a tweet.
“What a fucked up country. Dengue. Nobody dies from that. Who is the criminal idiot who stopped vaccination?” he added.
The wife of my personal driver James and the mother of 3, all under 12 years old, died of dengue and pneumonia. What a fucked up country. Dengue. Nobody dies from that. Who is the criminal idiot who stopped vaccination?
— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) September 3, 2019
Dengvaxia was used in the mass anti-dengue vaccination program during the time of former President Benigno Aquino III in 2016.
French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi Pasteur, the manufacturer of Dengvaxia, however, released a study in November 2017 stating that the product could cause an increased risk to patients who have not been infected by dengue in the past.
This led to the Department of Health to pull out the Dengvaxia vaccines from the local market.
READ: Dengvaxia ban stays, says DOH
In August 2019, the Department of Health (DOH) declared national dengue epidemic amid the spike in the number of cases of the mosquito-borne viral disease.
As of August 17, the health department said that the number of dengue cases in the country this year had risen to 229,736, as it continues to near DOH’s year-end projection of 240,000 cases.
Further, the disease had resulted in 958 deaths, the DOH reported. /jpv
READ: Dengue cases near DOH’s year-end projection of 240K