MANILA, Philippines — It was President Rodrigo Duterte who ordered to stop announcing in advance the vaccine brands that would be administered at jab sites, Malacañang said Thursday.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the President made the order after he saw how people crammed the vaccination sites that gave the US-made Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
“Si Presidente ang nag-utos niyan dahil nakita niya ‘yung kawalan ng social distancing doon sa ilang lugar kung saan in-announce ang pababakuna ng Pfizer,” he said in a Palace briefing.
(The President ordered that [directive] after he saw the lack of social distancing in sites where the Pfizer vaccine was given.)
The Department of Health (DOH) earlier said it is pushing for a “brand agnostic” policy in the government’s COVID-19 immunization program to avoid the repeat of the Pfizer vaccination woes.
However, Roque said all vaccines went through thorough studies and were safe and effective against COVID-19.
“Ang pinakamabuting bakuna ay ‘yung ilalagay sa inyong mga braso,” he said.
(The best vaccine is the available vaccine.)
After the DOH’s announcement, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said that local government units (LGUs) would no longer reveal in advance which brand of vaccines they would administer.
Instead, the brand of vaccines will only be disclosed to vaccinees on-site before inoculation.