Amid line-jumpers, Drilon says gov’t should ramp up vaccine supply

(FILE) Dr. Emmanuel Salamanca, head of the training office of the Southern Isabela Medical Center, receives the CoronaVac vaccine from a nurse during the start of the vaccination drive at the hospital in Santiago City on Monday. Photo by Villamor Visaya Jr.

MANILA, Philippines — The national government should ramp up the supply of COVID-19 vaccines in the country to prevent incidents of line-jumping in the vaccination program, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said Friday.

According to Drilon, the uncertainty on the supply and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines affect the confidence of the people in the ability of the government to implement an effective and efficient mass vaccination program.

“This happens when we only have a million or so doses when what we need is at least 140 million doses to inoculate around 70 million Filipinos,” Drilon said in a statement.

“People are worried about two things: coronavirus infections are hitting record-high each day and the fact that there is a woefully inadequate supply of vaccines. The government must ramp up vaccine supply. It all boils down to supply and demand,” the senator added.

Moreover, Drilon said the credibility of the government to make the Filipinos follow the rules “is negatively affected by past incidents”, such as the reported illegal and unauthorized vaccination of government officials.

“I leave it to the Department of Justice to determine possible violations when the prioritization provided for in COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act is not followed,” Drilon said.

The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) earlier issued show-cause orders to five mayors for getting vaccinated against COVID-19 ahead of the prioritized sector.

The show-cause orders were addressed to Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez; T’boli, South Cotabato Mayor Dibu Tuan; Sto Niño, South Cotabato Mayor Sulpicio Villalobos; Legazpi City, Albay Mayor Noel Rasa; and Bataraza, Palawan Mayor Abraham Ibba.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and National Task Force (NTF) on COVID-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., meanwhile, both reminded Filipinos to follow the priority ranking in the government’s new coronavirus vaccination program.

/MUF