Duque assures no ‘VIP treatment’ for gov’t officials in COVID-19 vaccination

MANILA, Philippines — Health Secretary Francisco Duque III assured on Wednesday that there will be no “VIP treatment” for government officials in the vaccination program against the coronavirus disease 2019.

In the Kapihan sa Manila Bay virtual forum, Duque said the DOH will keep a close watch so that the list of prioritization for the inoculation drive will be strictly followed.

“Babantayan natin ‘yan kaya maganda po ang papel na ginagampanan ng media dahil talagang kasama po namin kayo na magmamatyag. We will look into this that wala pong mga tinatawag nating VIP treatment,” he said when asked how the DOH can ensure that government officials would not crowd out other priority recipients of the vaccines.

(We will keep a close watch, and the media also has a noble role on this because we will be with you in monitoring this. We will look into it so that there would be no VIP treatment.)

Duque earlier said that healthcare workers, frontliners in select agencies, uniformed personnel, indigent citizens, senior citizens and other vulnerable populations will be among the priorities for the COVID-19 vaccination drive.

Earlier this December, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque noted that the political opposition will likely criticize the Duterte administration if government officials will be the first recipients of the COVID-19 vaccines.

Duque himself accepted Senator Christopher “Bong” Go’s challenge to be among the first to receive a vaccine shot against the coronavirus to ensure its safety. Duque said he would also encourage other government officials to do the same.

Back in March, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that at least 34 government officials, mostly without symptoms or aggravating conditions, have demanded that the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine prioritize their tests for COVID-19, including that of their asymptomatic family members. The government officials reportedly made this request despite persons under investigation who were having symptoms of the disease were waiting to be tested for the virus at that time.

JE