Quezon lawmaker in hot water for getting vaccine jab as dependent of doctor-son

Quezon Rep. Angelina “Helen” Tan, chair of the House committee on health. Screengrab from the HOR livestream

MANILA, Philippines — Government is mounting a probe on a member of the House of Representatives who had been among the first recipients of the coronavirus vaccine that was reserved for health care workers.

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said Quezon Rep. Angelina “Helen” Tan, who sits as chair of the House committee on health, will be subject to an investigation after receiving a Sinovac vaccine at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC).

Tan, the first among lawmakers to get inoculated with the vaccine, claimed she was vaccinated as a dependent of her son who is a surgeon at the said hospital.

Galvez, however, said that the mandate was clear to prioritize frontliners in the health sector in the vaccination, and that there was no directive from the national government that allows the substitution.

“Wala pong directive na gano’n, mali po iyon. Lahat ng 1.7 [million] na frontliners muna sa ngayon. Wala po munang mga dependent. We are protecting the institutions. Kulang po tayo,” Galvez said in an interview over dzBB, when sought to comment on Tan’s vaccination.

“Mali po iyon, we will investigate on that just in case meron pong nangyaring ganon,” he added.

EDV