President Duterte has pushed for fair and non-discriminatory distribution of coronavirus vaccines in the country regardless of the brand.
The President directed vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. to turn a blind eye to the vaccine brands and distribute the supplies as soon as they arrive in the country. Duterte is concerned that showing brand preference might lead to the shortage of the country's vaccine supply.
"Is there any superiority among the vaccines that are being injected now sa tao? Mayroon bang lalamang diyan sa ano? (Is there a superior brand?) Because you know ‘pag makapili ka (if you choose) and there is a study or somebody magsabi na itong vaccine na ito (say this brand) is far more superior than what is being given, ang problema niyan sa linya parang mamili ka, Astra ang akin, Zeneca. So it would --- and the others, Pilipino, na gusto tapos hindi nila makuha kasi naubos na, may problema tayo diyan (The problem there is if you choose, I choose AstraZeneca, and the other Filipino who want to be vaccinated can get any because it ran out. We have a problem there)," Duterte said in a televised address Wednesday, May 5.
"If you look at it with a --- tingnan mo talaga, silipin mo, discriminatory (If you look at it with, if choose, that's discriminatory)," he added.
Duterte told Galvez to make sure the vaccines are distributed as soon as the stocks are delivered to the country, insisting brands do not matter. He said if vaccine brands are preferred over the other due to supposed "superiority," it might "take time" to distribute the stocks to the people.
"I put to task ikaw mismo na you just keep a blind eye and say, ito kunin niyo, ito for Sta. Ana; ito for Bulacan (and say this is for Sta. Ana, for Bulacan)," Duterte told Galvez.
"Huwag mo ng iano ‘yong --- tingnan kung ano kasi (Don't discriminate otherwise) there will be a lot of complaints again in the matter of what --- who --- what vaccine is superior to the other. Tutal bakuna lahat ‘yan (Besides they are all vaccines)," he said.
Reacting to the President's directive, Galvez promised to implement fair vaccine distribution. He noted that the vaccine uptake has increased, citing people have been lining up for vaccination regardless of the brand.
"Talagang ang mga tao po natin, karamihan po sa mga ano natin mga nakakaintindi at saka 'yong nasa talagang common na mamamayan po natin na gustong talagang magbakuna, hindi na po namimili (Most of our people understand and want to get vaccines. They are no longer choosy)," he said.
The government started to distribute free vaccines last March following the arrival of the initial supply from China and COVAX facility. So far, 2 million vaccine doses have been administered.
Additional vaccine supplies, including those from Pfizer and AstraZeneca, will arrive this month, according to Galvez.