As the nation moves to protect the people from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), President Duterte renewed his appeal to Filipinos to get vaccinated immediately, telling them that their cooperation is the key to reopening the economy.
Duterte made the statement as received the 487,200 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines from the COVAX Facility, a mechanism led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and is designed to guarantee rapid, fair, and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines worldwide.
In his speech in Pasay City, the President asked the public to get vaccinated because this would help fight the spread of COVID-19.
"I would like to appeal to all our kababayans: Please get vaccinated against COVID-19 and be the government partner in preventing further spread of the disease," he said Thursday evening.
"I encourage you to get vaccinated at the soonest possible time," he added.
Duterte reassured the public that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe and asked them to get one when they can immediately.
"These vaccines are safe and they are the key to reopening our society," he said.
"With your cooperation, we will overcome this pandemic and ensure the health and safety of everyone," he added.
President Duterte has agreed to have himself vaccinated in public to boost the Filipino people's confidence in the vaccine. He, however, preferred to take the Sinopharm vaccine from China.
The government rolled out its vaccination program on health workers on March 1 with 600,000 CoronaVac doses donated by the Chinese government. The arrival of the first batch of AstraZeneca doses from the COVAX Facility brought the number of COVID-19 vaccines that the Philippines has to 1,087,200.