Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 24) — For Vice President Leni Robredo, President Rodrigo Duterte must get inoculated ahead of others and in front of the public’s eye in order to boost the vaccine confidence of all Filipinos.
In her radio show Biserbisyong Leni on Sunday, Robredo called on Duterte to make it known real-time that he is receiving the doses before others to regain the people’s trust in vaccines, the same way that other heads of state did to encourage their citizens. Robredo added that if Duterte is not willing to go first, she can.
“Iyong sinasabi lang natin, mahalaga kasing Pangulo talaga iyong mauna. Kung ayaw niya, ako willing naman akong mauna,” Robredo said.
“Pero iyong sinasabi lang natin mahalaga kasi nakita naman natin, ginawa ito sa maraming bansa. Ginawa ito sa lahat ng bansa para ma-boost iyong confidence ng tao sa bakuna kasi marami ngayong pangamba sa safety nito,” she added. “Iyong sa akin lang, kailangang ipaklaro sa tao, ano ba talaga ang kalagayan ng iba’t ibang klase ng bakuna?”
[Translation: We are just saying that it’s important for the President to go first. If he cannot do it, I’m willing to go first. But what we’re saying here is we’ve witnessed it in other countries. Other countries did this to boost the confidence of the people in vaccines because a lot are doubting its safety. To me, people need to be informed on the status of the different vaccines.]
Malacañang revealed last Tuesday that Duterte is willing to get inoculated with Sinovac’s CoronaVac vaccine, but said that it’s unnecessary to show it to the public. This vaccine was earlier reported to have a 50% efficacy, lower than the other Western brands such as Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s vaccines that showed over 95% effectivity based on early data.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte is willing to get the shots of the Chinese firm’s COVID-19 vaccine once available, but he will take a private route similar to that of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh when they got vaccinated against the disease.
Duterte’s vaccination will be announced only after it happens, Roque added.
For Robredo, a public vaccination among the highest-ranking government officials would not be necessary if Filipinos have confidence in the vaccines. She then cited some world leaders who have volunteered to get inoculated live on television to encourage citizens to receive COVID-19 vaccine shots. Among them were US President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
“Si President Biden nagpaturok. Si former Vice President Mike Pence nagpaturok…Nakita natin sa Indonesia, Singapore. Napakaraming lugar na heads of state ang nauuna. Kasi ang mensahe nito wala kayo dapat ikatakot,” said Robredo.
She added: “Kung hindi naman takot ang tao hindi naman kailangang ipag-public iyong pagpapaturok. Kailangan lang, public ang pagpapaturok as a symbol na wala dapat ikatakot.”
[Translation: President Biden got vaccinated. Former Vice President Mike Pence got vaccinated…We’ve seen it happen in Indonesia, Singapore. In many countries, their heads of state have gone first. If people are not scared, there’s no need to make public the inoculation. But this should be done in public as a symbol that there’s nothing to fear.]
A recent survey by Pulse Asia revealed almost half of Filipinos said they will opt out of COVID-19 vaccination, mainly citing safety concerns.
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