Malacañang defended the government's move to purchase 25 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines developed by China's Sinovac, saying it was the right decision that could save the lives of people from the deadly respiratory disease.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque made the statement after the government announced this week that it had secured 25 million doses of the said vaccine brand, with an initial 50,000 doses expected to arrive next month, despite the public's doubts about the vaccine.

In his Thursday presser, Roque stood by the government's decision, saying they are doing everything to make sure that the country can get a vaccine, especially with the United Kingdom variant of COVID-19 being detected in the country on Wednesday.

"There's nothing to rethink po," he said.

"Ginagawa natin ang lahat ng hakbang para makarating sa lalong mabilis na panahon ang kahit anong bakuna na mapapatunayang ligtas at epektibo ng ating FDA (Food and Drug Administration) at ang Sinovac lang po ngayon ang sigurado (We are doing everything so we can get the vaccines that proven effective and safe by the FDA as soon as possible)," he added.

Roque reiterated that the government decided to procure the Chinese-made vaccine to give protection to 5 million Filipinos.

"Yung pagnanais po ng Presidente na magbigay proteksyon sa 5 milyong kababayan natin dahil mga 5 milyon ang maangkat natin by June sa Sinovac (It is the President's wish to vaccinate 5 million Filipinos because we will get around 5 million doses from Sinovac by June)," he said.

"Hindi po maling desisyon 'yan. 'Yan po ay tamang desisyon... Hindi po nagkamali ang gobyerno, ang Presidente, sa ganitong desisyon dahil importante po ay maisalba ang buhay ng ating mga kababayan (That's not the wrong decision, that is the right decision... The government and the President made the right decision because what's important is to save the lives of our people)," he added.

Not playing favorites

Meanwhile, Roque assured the public that the government is not playing favorites when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines.

"Uulitin ko po, wala tayong favoritism (Let me repeat, there is no favoritism here)," he said.

"Nagkataong hindi tayo na-supply-an ng Pfizer kasi nga po nabili na lahat ng mga mayayamang bansa yung available stock ng Pfizer (It just happened that Pfizer was not able to supply us because the rich countries had already bought all their available stock)," he added.

Roque, meanwhile, reiterated that there will not be much difference between the vaccines made by Sinovac, Pfizer BioNTech, and those made by other western countries once the local FDA approves them for use.

"Basta maaprubahan po 'yan ng FDA, tabla po 'yan pagdating sa kaligtasan at pagiging epektibo kasama po ng mga brands na galing sa mga western countries (Once the FDA approves them, it is going to be fair play for all brands when it comes to safety and efficacy)," he said.