Live longer or die, Duterte tells people hesitant to get COVID-19 vaccine

MANILA, Philippines — “These people who really do not want to be vaccinated because of whatever — religious or, I mean, no offense. But, for those who do not want to be vaccinated, it’s easy. Choose: Live longer or do you want to die already?”

President Rodrigo Duterte made that statement in Filipino on Monday during a meeting he convened with medical experts and members of the National Task Force Against COVID-19.

“Those are the two choices. If you get COVID — we don’t know yet about this Omicron [variant]. That’s it. So choose: Early demise or live longer?” he added.

Those statements were part of Duterte’s plea to get vaccinated against COVID-19, especially with the Omicron variant threatening to spread worldwide.

The president called on public and private offices to allow their workers to leave work to get vaccinated.

The national government has just launched a three-day national vaccination drive — from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1 — in a bid to inject nine million doses.

In jest, Duterte said would want to shoot dead the Omicron variant.

“Me, I want to kill that. It’s just that I don’t know where [it is]. I want to shoot that crazy thing,” he said.

The Omicron variant was first discovered in South Africa and was declared by the World Health Organization as a variant of concern.

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