President Rodrigo Duterte blamed Vice President Leni Robredo for the alleged distrust of some Filipinos in the COVID-19 vaccines obtained by the government.
This is after Robredo seconded the recommendation of some doctors that the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC) should review the Sinovac vaccines donated by China first before being used by health care workers, due to the allegedly low efficacy rate. of the vaccine.
According to Duterte, because of Robredo’s statements, the public continues to doubt the vaccines available to the government and is wasting efforts to increase confidence in the vaccine.
“Imbes na makatulong si Vice President, she muddled up everything, thereby I said creating uncertainty and doubt in the minds of the people,” said Duterte.
It may be recalled that Robredo echoed the hesitation of some health workers at the Philippine General Hospital and the Health Professionals Alliance against COVID-19, on the Sinovac vaccine due to the lack of a “positive recommendation” from HTAC.
“Hindi ito labanan na dahil gawa sa China. Hindi iyon. Para sa atin, kahit saan iyon ginawa, basta nag-go through siya noong proseso na nire-require natin of all vaccines, kailangang magtiwala tayo sa ating mga ahensya. Kasi nandiyan sila for a particular mandate, at iyong mandatong iyon, para proteksyunan tayo, ‘di ba?” Robredo said in her radio program on February 28.
Duterte blames Robredo over public’s low confidence in Sinovac vaccines
The FDA said that Sinovac’s efficacy is from 65.3% to 91.2%. However, it only reached 50.4% among health workers with COVID-19 exposure.
Meanwhile, the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) and the Health Technology Assessment Council, an independent advisory body in the Department of Health, have agreed that the Sinovac vaccine could be administered to health workers.
The country has already received 1,125,600 doses of the vaccine in the combined initial deliveries of Sinovac and AstraZeneca.
According to vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, up to 20 million doses are expected to be delivered to the country in the second quarter of 2021.
The government targets 70 million to be vaccinated so that the country has “herd immunity” against COVID-19.