The government is determined to implement a swift and orderly distribution of the coronavirus vaccines to all beneficiaries across the country, President Duterte declared Monday night.
Addressing the nation over state television, the President said the government already did its "assignment" in preparing for the vaccine rollout, including the storage and transportation of the life-saving drugs.
The government has so far secured millions of doses of coronavirus vaccines from various suppliers abroad. The initial shipment of the supply is expected to be delivered this month.
"We are waiting for the vaccines to arrive and to immediately implement the required mandate and that is to mabakunahan lahat (to vaccinate everyone). We will do it as fast as the vaccines will come in," he said.
"We have explained it to the people why we cannot give it indiscriminately to any government, I'm just talking of government entities... as fast we receive them, we distribute them," he said.
He said the government, through the hard work of vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., has readied cold storage facilities for the vaccines to avoid spoilage. "We must have the facility to ensure the integrity, 'yung bisa ng vaccine ay hindi masisira ( the efficacy of the vaccine won't be affected)," he said.
Duterte said the government could tap public school buildings and military hospitals in case the country needed more vaccination centers. The immunization program could be also carried out in some police and military camps in far-flung areas, he added.
As the government readies the vaccination drive, Duterte has assured the people about the nation's survival from the pandemic. He added that he expects good results from teh vaccination program by the end of the year.
"Eventually we will solve all the problems connected with this. We will survive. And by the end of the year, mukhang medyo na tayong, hindi naman pinakamaganda, but maganda resulta sa pagod natin (it looks we will get, not really very good, but good results from our hard work)," he said.
Medical frontliners, seniors, poor and vulnerable citizens, government essential workers and economic frontliners are among the priority beneficiaries of the government’s free vaccines.
The government plans to negotiate for 178 million doses of coronavirus that would be good for 92 million in anticipation of the possible delay in the delivery of the supplies.