While the Philippines is still negotiating for the supply of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines, other countries have started vaccinating their citizens.
‘’What’s taking the Department of Health (DOH) so long?’’ Senator Imee R. Marcos, chairwoman of the Senate economic affairs committee, asked.
‘’Other countries are already vaccinating their citizens- nakakainggit, maski indonesia at South Africa ratsada nang nagpapa vaccinate! Tayo negotiating pa rin with the different pharma(ceutical) companies, overpriced pa raw? Marcos added. (Other countries are already vaccinating their citizens- it is enviable, even Indonesia and South Africa are racing in vaccinating {their citizens}. And we are still negotiating with different pharmaceutical companies, and it is overpriced?)
This came after President Duterte kicked up a storm when he revealed last week that some members of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) and some government officials had COVID-19 vaccinations.
Marcos suspected that the vaccines were smuggled or ‘’unauthorized’’ and asked: ‘’bakit kinailangan kasing mag smuggle ika nga? (Why the need to smuggle them in?)
Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros said that the China-made, Sinopharm vaccines used to inoculate high ranking officials and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) members, were clearly smuggled through a black market, and even worse, this seems to have been sanctioned by the government.
‘’Ang taumbayan ba ang nagbayad para sa ilegal na vaccination na ito? This is another whiff of corruption,’’ she said. (Will taxpayers pay for this illegal vaccination?)
PSG chief Jesus Durante III had told media that some PSG members had been vaccinated against COVID-19 as early as September.
Durante did not disclose which vaccine was used, but said that they did some research on the vaccine.
Opposition Senator Francis ‘’Kiko’’ Pangilinan lamented that these illegal vaccinations took place even as Vaccine Czar Carlos Galvez is in charge of buying and rolling out vaccines.
Pangilinan cited past government announcements that medical frontliners would be given top priority in the vaccination program.