Duterte: EU holding AstraZeneca vaccines hostage

(FILE) CHEAPEST SO FAR The Covid-19 vaccine of AstraZeneca will cost only $5 for two shots.—AFP

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday lamented how the European Union is supposedly holding hostage Covid-19 vaccines developed by the British drugmaker AstraZeneca.

Duterte said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), where the Philippines is a part of, is not as powerful as the EU that is why it’s not as easy to get the vaccines.

“Tignan mo kagago ng European Union ha…the European Commission launched a new mechanism on Friday to monitor and in some cases, block, parahin, coronavirus vaccines exports out of the European Union,” Duterte said in a pre-recorded speech, reading a news article.

“Ganun kadali. Ang atin dito, ASEAN. But we are not really as powerful as EU. E wala tayong connection, wala tayong pera. May pera tayo pero nakaready lang, nakastambay.”

(It’s that easy. Here, we have ASEAN. But we are not really as powerful as the EU. We don’t have connections, we don’t have money. We have money but it is on standby.)

Duterte encouraged the public to “hope for the best,” but cited the problem of getting Covid-19 vaccines.

“Let’s just hope for the best. The problem is yung bakuna…E yung AstraZeneca hinostage ng European Union. Sa Europe kasi parang isa na lang sila. Wala na silang distinction kaya ganun ang ginagawa nila,” said the President.

(Let’s just hope for the best. The problem is the vaccine. The European Union held hostage AstraZeneca. In Europe, they are like one. They don’t have distinctions that’s why they’re doing that.)

“Ewan ko kung ano pero sana itong, one day, maybe, not in other fields of ano, magkakaroon din tayo ng panahon to shine. Hindi na ako yan…But our time will shine someday. Yung ating ASEAN it is not that powerful to have a clout sa mga ganitong ginagawa ngayon,” he went on.

(I don’t know but maybe one day, we will have our time to shine. It’s no longer up to me. But our time will shine someday. ASEAN is not that powerful to have a clout in things like these nowadays.)

Earlier, the EU sought to restrict exports of Covid-19 vaccines to Northern Ireland but later backtracked the move after it drew condemnation.

/MUF