Duterte orders Galvez: Don’t discriminate among COVID-19 vaccine brands

MANILA, Philippines — Keep a blind eye to brands when distributing COVID-19 vaccines to local governments to avoid disputes about vial preferences that will prolong the process. Treat all the vaccines as the same.

That’s the directive of President Rodrigo Duterte to Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., the country’s vaccine manager.

In his pre-recorded briefing that aired Wednesday night, Duterte explained that he gave that order because he feared that a preference for one vaccine could lead to the supply of that vaccine running out.

“Is there any superiority among the vaccines that are being injected now on people? Is there one that’s superior?” he said, speaking partly in Filipino. “Because, you know, once you choose one and there is a study or somebody saying that this vaccine is far more superior than what is being given, there’s a problem there.”

“So you choose: I’ll have Astra[Zeneca]. And the others who want that may not be able to get that anymore because it’s been used up. That’s where we have a problem. Well, if you look at it, really look at it, it’s discriminatory,” he added.

In reply, Galvez said that the President’s suggestion would be followed.

“Sir, we will implement that, sir,” he said. “And as we have seen, the uptake by our citizens has been good no matter what we give them. They really line up for it.”

“And as they have been saying, the most effective vaccine is the vaccine that we already have,” he added.

The Philippines is banking on COVID-19 vaccines to combat a surge in cases, which has forced the national government to put Metro Manila and the adjacent provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and then under modified ECQ (MECQ).

As of Wednesday, the government had vaccinated over two million people belonging to prioritized groups — which includes health workers, senior citizens, and people with comorbidities.

Currently, the country’s COVID-19 cases have significantly gone down from the 10,000 to 12,000 daily cases recorded during the peak of the surge. As of Wednesday, there were 1,073,555 confirmed COVID-19 cases nationwide, of which 62,713 were active cases.

[atm]