President Rodrigo Duterte threatened that those who will refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19 would be arrested.
“Don’t get me wrong, there is a crisis being faced in this country, there is a national emergency. Kung ayaw mong magpabakuna ipaaresto kita, at ang bakuna itusok ko sa pwet mo,” Duterte said in his weekly Talk to the Nation.
“Don’t force my hand into it. Kung hindi kayo magpabakuna, umalis kayo sa Pilipinas. Go to India or to America. But as long as you are here and you are a human being who can carry the virus, magpabakuna ka. ‘Pag hindi, ‘yung ivermectin na para sa baboy ang patira ko sa’yo,” Duterte added.
The President said he felt “exasperated” hearing reports of some Filipinos refusing the free COVID-19 vaccines provided by the government.
The Department of Health Monday reported that over two million Filipinos already completed their doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
Up to eight million COVID-19 vaccines have been administered to the people since the vaccination program began in March.
According to the National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC), up to 8,050,711 have been distributed out of the 14,205,870 doses received by the country.
Some 5,953,810 received the first dose, and 2,096,901 completed the two doses.
Of those fully vaccinated, 1,053,378 or 94.24 percent were health workers (A1). A total of 1,939,599 senior citizens (A2) were given the first dose, while 536,476 were fully vaccinated.
Duterte: Arrest those who refused vaccination
Of the persons with comorbidities (A3), 498,925 received the two doses, while 2,005,206 received the first dose.
Of the essential workers (A4), 452,600 received the first dose, and 8,127 were fully vaccinated. A total of 23,826 belonging to the indigent sector (A5) were also vaccinated.
The average daily administered doses over the past week were 208,809.
“The government is urging eligible populations belonging to priority groups A1 to A5 to register with their local government units, get vaccinated, and complete the required number of doses as scheduled,” the DOH said.
“Regardless of vaccination status, everyone is urged to continue practicing the minimum public health standards as you may still get infected with COVID-19 and infect other people.”
There are currently 3,991 vaccination sites in the Philippines.
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