Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 4) – President Rodrigo Duterte elevated to the world stage his call for the universal access of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines and technologies.
Speaking before the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in a pre-recorded message on early Friday morning (Philippine time), Duterte emphasized the need for enhanced cooperation among countries and within their own constituencies to further combat the spread of the disease.
“Without the cure and a vaccine, we can only delay the spread of the disease while we open our economies,” he said.
The President added the world will suffer dire consequences if countries will be excluded from COVID-19 vaccines and technologies.
“If any country is excluded, by reason of poverty or strategic unimportance, this gross justice will haunt the world for a long time. It will completely discredit the values upon which the United Nations was founded,” Duterte said.
Duterte stressed that “life-saving services and products” must be accessible to the most vulnerable sectors of the society and they should be given priority.
He also affirmed the country’s commitment in the scientific initiatives forged by the World Health Organization in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic such as the Access to COVID-19 Tools-Accelerator or ACT-Accelerator, COVAX facility, and COVID-19 Technology Access Pool or C-TAP.
Duterte also told the UN body the country will contribute to the pooling of global resources and help other nations, without conditions, in defeating the virus.
“With the path clear, we see how far we can go working with each other and how much we can achieve, when we act – not as separate nations – but as one humanity,” he remarked.
The Philippines signed last Nov. 27 a deal with British manufacturer AstraZeneca for the purchase of two million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
The country’s vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said on Wednesday the Philippines may receive COVID-19 vaccine doses from Chinese and Russian manufacturers as early as the first quarter of 2021 amid “advanced” supply negotiations.
The national task force against COVID-19 is looking to administer vaccines to at least 60 million Filipinos to achieve herd immunity, where virus transmissions will be limited.
