Solon twits government on ‘vaccine first’ policy

MANILA, Philippines — An opposition lawmaker on Saturday criticized President Rodrigo Duterte’s declared position to defer laying a roadmap against COVID-19 until a still nonexistent vaccine becomes available.

“President Rodrigo Duterte has placed the cart before the horse when he insisted that his administration’s roadmap in response to the COVID-19 pandemic will be made only when the antiviral vaccine is available,” said Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman.

Lagman was reacting to a televised address, aired on Friday, in which the President said the government cannot plot a roadmap in the absence of a vaccine.

Testing, treatment

But the Albay lawmaker said the government cannot contain the spread of the viral infection without free mandatory mass testing, effective treatment of those infected and protection of health-care front-liners.These steps, Lagman said, can be carried out and intensified while the country is trying to access the antiviral vaccine which is being produced by other countries.“[Mr.] Duterte cannot simply wait for the contingency of the vaccine’s availability while the contagion continues to ravage the country with [more than] 100,000 found positive and 2,023 already dead, including health-care front-liners,” he said.Alongside the proposed road map is the provision of needed funds for the country to secure the vaccine, supposedly without depending on the generosity of other countries. INQ