President Duterte urged the public to not get more than the prescribed coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine shots, saying not only are they depriving the people who are yet to get vaccinated, it is bad for the body.
Duterte made the statement as the total vaccines delivered to the country will hit 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses by the end of October.
In his pre-recorded public address aired late Thursday, September 30, the President warned the public against taking a third COVID-19 vaccine jab.
"Mamamatay ka niyan, sigurado ‘yan (You're going to die, that's for sure)," he said about people getting multiple COVID-19 shots.
"You know there are people really who are not contented or hindi sila kampante sa (they are not confident about the) second or third shot," he added.
Duterte expressed confidence that any health expert would agree that having a third COVID-19 shot is bad but said a person should have himself checked if he really insists on receiving another dose.
"If you really want multiple vaccines, have yourself checked ‘yung ano ang population ng antibodies mo. Eh kung mayroon, huwag mong sobrahan kasi masama (if you have enough antibodies. If you do, then don't take more vaccine shots because it's bad)," he said.
"It is not good. Iyong iba kasi nag --- nagpapaano eh, sigurista (Some people want to be sure). But any doctor would tell you that it is bad, bad as bad," he added.
The President also said that the country has a limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines so receiving an additional shot would mean fewer vaccines for the rest of the country.
"You deprive your countrymen, the others na hindi pa, sa isang bakuna (those who haven't completed their vaccination yet)," he said.
Last month, Malacañang said that it was not yet time to talk about booster shots since many Filipinos are yet to be vaccinated.
In August, the Palace asked for the public’s patience and wait for the country to achieve population protection before getting booster shots. This appeal came amid reports of some residents going around different local government units (LGUs) to get the additional shot.
The government has allocated P45.4 billion for COVID-19 booster shots of 93.798 million fully vaccinated Filipinos in the proposed P5.02-trillion 2022 national budget.