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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'COVID-19 will take care of those who refuse vaccination' --- Roque

'COVID-19 will take care of those who refuse vaccination' --- Roque

Published Aug 9, 2021 03:35 pm

Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque has left the fate of those who continued to refuse to be vaccinated to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

He said COVID-19 will take care of those who chose to remain unvaccinated.

Roque made the statement as many Filipinos continued to resist vaccination against the said infectious respiratory disease.

In his press briefing on Monday, August 9, Roque was asked if the government was planning on launching a program for those who refused to take the shot.

"Ang programa po diyan sa ngayon siguro eh bahala na (yung) COVID-19 sa kanila kung ayaw nila magpabakuna (I guess the program for that, for now, is COVID-19 will take care of them if they don't want to get vaccinated)," he said.

As of August 8, the country has administered 24,479,750 COVID-19 vaccine doses with 11,391,969 individuals receiving the required two shots for five of the six vaccine brands in the country's inventory.

In July, a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed that 21 percent of Filipinos were still not willing to be vaccinated.

President Duterte has admitted that he was getting exasperated with convincing people to take the anti-COVID-19 shot.

Last month, he floated the idea of ordering the police and barangay officials to escort any unvaccinated person roaming around the streets back to their home and to not let them out.

Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion has also urged the government to make bold moves like limiting the movement of the unvaccinated population to prevent the further spread of the disease.

On Friday, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. attributed the country's low vaccination rate to the low global supply of vaccines and not to people who refused vaccination.

Related Tags

Harry Roque UNVACCINATED hesitancy covid-19 vaccination anti-vaxxers
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