DOH verifying reports on vaccines ‘taken’ to politician’s home

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) is trying to verify reports that some COVID-19 vaccine doses were transported to a politician’s house in Samar province.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said Monday that the DOH is still awaiting the report from its regional office in Eastern Visayas regarding the allegation.

“We are trying to verify these reports. Hindi ko pa masabi kung ito ay totoo o hindi. Kailangan pa namin mareceive ang official report so that we can act on it,” she told an online media briefing.

(We are trying to verify these reports. I cannot confirm yet if this is true or not. We need to receive the official report first so we can act on it.)

She did not mention the name of the politician or the specific location where the vaccine doses were supposedly transported. According to reports, 15 Sinovac doses were allegedly brought to the politician’s house in Northern Samar.

Vergeire urged concerned authorities and the public to monitor where the vaccines go.

“Gusto lang namin magpaalala sa lahat, para sa ating mga kababayan, bantayan natin ang mga bakuna natin. Para sa ating lahat ito. It is really very important na kahit isang dose ay mabantayan natin para hindi mapunta sa waste ang ating efforts at magkaroon ng bakuna ang lahat ng mga nangangailangan,” she emphasized.

(We just want to remind everyone to keep watch of our vaccines. This is for all of us. It is really very important to keep watch of even one dose so that our efforts will not go to waste and everyone will get vaccinated.)

“Para naman sa ating mga local government officials, sana tayo ay magtulong-tulong. Iwasan natin ang magkaroon ng ganitong mga pagkakataon dahil nawawalan ng tiwala ang ating mga kababayan kapag mayroong mga ganitong reports,” she added.

(To local government officials, let us help each other. Let us avoid having these scenarios because we lose public trust with these kinds of reports.)

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