Senator Grace Poe on Friday expressed dismay over the Department of Health's (DOH) supposed failure to immediately acquire COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer.

"It’s really tragic, and to an extent criminal, on their part for having missed the chance of acquiring 10 million vaccines. At this point, we need to vaccinate at least 60 to 70 percent of our population, which is at the minimum 70 million. And we (were) already getting the 10 million supposedly by January but because, again, ewan ko, ‘yong leadership ng DOH, urong-sulong, hindi makagawa ng desisyon, ay hindi makapagbigay ng tamang rekomendasyon (I don't know, but the leadership of the DOH was indecisive and cannot issue the proper recommendation), we missed it,” Poe said in an interview with CNN Philippines on Friday.

The senator said the indecisiveness of the DOH could affect the country's economic recovery.

"Imagine, it was a chance to get that. It was given to Singapore because they can act decisively and we can't. How many lives will be lost because of the lost opportunity of having the 10 million vaccines by January?" she said.

"Now, they’re saying the rollout -- which is still uncertain -- will be sometime mid-next year. So that’s how many months from now? People are already fatigued about all of these quarantine requirements and restrictions. The economy is already suffering. How many more billions will it cost us to save the health of hundreds and to save our ailing economy?" she continued.

Earlier, Senator Panfilo Lacson revealed the DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III "dropped the ball" on the Philippines' chance to secure 10 million doses of Pfizer's vaccines, which were reportedly set for delivery as early as next month.

Lacson, quoting Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin and Philippine Ambassador to the US Manuel Romualdez, said talks for the acquisition of the vaccines had started since July but Duque failed to prepare the confidentiality disclosure agreement needed for the purchase.

Duque denied the claim on Thursday, adding that Pfizer did not commit that it will provide the Philippines the 10 million vaccine doses in January.

Despite this, President Duterte did not seem to find a "major lapse" on Duque's part. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the Chief Executive still leaves the handling of the COVID-19 vaccine purchase to his vaccine czar, Peace process adviser and National Task Force against COVID-19 chief implementer Sec. Carlito Galvez.

The Senate is set to convene a Committee of the Whole to inquire about the details of the government's COVID-19 vaccination program.

Echoing her colleagues’ sentiments, Poe said the government should be transparent about its game plan on acquiring the vaccines and ensuring that what it will give to the people will be safe and effective.