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Inequitable vaccine distribution may prove to be the end of UN—Locsin
Inequitable vaccine distribution may prove to be the end of UN—Locsin
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. warned that “it’ll be the end” of the United Nations if the uneven coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine distribution continues.
Locsin was reacting to a news report which quoted vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez as saying that global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines “is very uneven,” with 10 countries accounting for 75 percent of 190 million vaccinations.
“(If) this continues, it’ll be end of the UN which will be shown up as a useless expense and a cover up for global inequalities by drowning them with talk from ambassadors of the fated to die unvaccinated shooting off their mouths while ambassadors of the over-vaccinated pretend to care,” he tweeted on Saturday, February 20.
The Philippines is currently waiting for the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccines as those from Pfizer got delayed because the Department of Health (DOH) is still processing some documents with help from the World Health Organization (WHO) and COVAX facility.
COVAX is a facility created by the UN to ensure that lower-income economies could have equal access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines.
Doses from Pfizer were supposed to arrive in the country last week to jumpstart the vaccination program, which will prioritize the inoculation of health care workers, seniors, people with co-morbidities, and uniformed personnel.
China’s donation of Sinovac vaccines is expected to arrive on February 23.
In another tweet, Locsin also hinted at his criticism of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.
“I was being nice about ball dropping,” he told former Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal who tagged the DFA secretary in a news report wherein Galvez admitted to the delay of the vaccines.
Earlier, Larrazabal said on Twitter: “You know why the Philippines still doesn’t have vaccines? We acted late. That’s the conclusion of so many people (some just don’t want to publicly say it).”
“Not true. We were among the first to react in that end and other antiCovid aspects. But feared mistakes too much. Natural,” Locsin replied, to which the former commissioner answered with Galvez’s admission that he’s embarrassed about the vaccine delay.
In December last year, Locsin told a Senate hearing that someone “dropped the ball” in the country’s COVID-19 vaccine negotiations with Pfizer. He later on confirmed that he was referring to Duque.
This came after Locsin and Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez secured millions of Pfizer vaccine doses to arrive in the country supposedly by January 2021. The arrival was further pushed to mid-February, but the lack of the indemnification documents delayed the process.