Duterte says he will take responsibility for anything wrong with COVID-19 vaccines

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday that he would take responsibility if something should go wrong in the use of COVID-19 vaccines that the national government would buy.

In a taped speech aired Wednesday, Duterte said any vaccines procured by his chosen vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. would “bind him.”

“Whatever Secretary Galvez chooses would bind me,” he said, speaking partly in Filipino. “It would be like I was the one who ought the vaccine. So I won’t buy a vaccine that’s not the right one.”

Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. is the chief implementor of the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Whatever Secretary Galvez chooses, whatever his responsibility is will also be my responsibility. Ultimately, actually, through all of this, if something goes wrong with what we in government choose and are negotiating for now, at the end of day, the responsibility is really mine,” Duterte said.

The President vouched for the Covid-19 vaccines that Galvez will procure as safe and effective.

So far, the Philippines has already inked deals for jabs using vaccines from three drug firms — Sinovac BioTech in China, the Serum Institute in India, and AstraZeneca in England.

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