Robredo: Important for Duterte to get 1st Covid-19 vaccine shot to boost public’s trust

MANILA, Philippines — It is important that President Rodrigo Duterte will publicly get the first shot of the Covid-19 vaccine as this will boost the Filipinos’ confidence to get inoculated, Vice President Leni Robredo said Sunday.

In her weekly radio show “BISErbisyong Leni” aired over DZXL, Robredo reiterated that she is willing to get the shot of the vaccine in public.

(What we are saying, it is important that the President will get the first shot. If he doesn’t want to, I am willing to go first.)

“Pero ang sinasabi lang natin, mahalaga kasi nakita naman natin, ginawa ito sa lahat ng bansa, ginawa ito sa lahat ng bansa, para ma-boost iyong confidence ng tao sa bakuna, kasi marami ngayong pangamba, marami iyong pangamba sa safety nito,” she added.

(But what we are saying is that this is important. This is being done in other countries to boost people’s confidence, because many are afraid of its safety.)

Robredo’s response comes after Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go challenged her to get vaccinated in public.

A recent Pulse Asia survey showed that majority of Filipinos were afraid to get inoculated with the Covid-19 vaccine, citing safety concerns.

Palace spokesman Harry Roque previously said that the Chief Executive has agreed to get vaccinated against Covid-19 “as soon as it is available”, but the inoculation will be done in private.

Robredo, meanwhile, then cited other world leaders such as United States President Joe Biden and former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, saying that they were willing to get vaccinated in public.

“Ang mensahe nito, ‘Wala kayong dapat ikatakot.’ ‘di ba?… Kung hindi naman takot iyong tao, hindi naman kailangan mag-public na pagpapaturok eh, ‘di ba? Kailangan lang iyong public na pagpapaturok as a symbol na ‘wala kayong dapat ikatakot,’”she said.

(The message here shows that there is nothing to be afraid of, right? If the people aren’t scared, then no public inoculation should happen. The public inoculation is a symbol that there’s nothing to be afraid of.)

“Kasi kung sabihin natin majority naman gustong magpaturok, wala namang necessity sa amin na magpaturok in public,” she added. “Pero dahil ang baba ng confidence ng tao, kailangan nating magtulung-tulungan para maging confident iyong tao na wala silang dapat ikatakot magpabakuna.”

(If we say that majority are willing to be vaccinated, then there’s no necessity to be vaccinated in public. But since the people’s confidence is so low, we need to work together for them to be confident enough to get the vaccine.)

JE