Duterte: Philippines to beat COVID-19 by December with vaccines from China

President Rodrigo Duterte said the country will be back to normal by December because of anti-COVID-19 vaccines from China.

“Meron akong nakuha from China, magtiis lang kayo ng konti. I could not utter a single thing about roadmap to recovery kasi ang una talaga diyan, medicine,” Duterte said in a meeting with government officials aired Friday.

“By December, we would be back to normal. By December, tapos ito lahat. Ito ang guarantee ko, ang unang makakatanggap, 'yung sa mahirap, 'yung binibigyan ng assistance ng gobyerno, iyong mga nasa ospital, tapos middle income. Libre ito," he added.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said that the vaccine would cost P20 billion.

Priority

At the same briefing, Duterte said  poor Filipinos receiving government assistance will be the first to be given a vaccine against COVID-19 when it is available.

He said middle-income citizens will follow, as well as the military and police, whom he called the "backbone" of his administration.

"Ang una talaga 'yung mga tao sa listahan na tumatanggap ng assistance sa gobyerno. Ngayon, pangalawa, 'yung middle income. Libre ito, hindi ko ito ipagbili," Duterte said.

"'Yung mga upper income bumili na lang kayo," Duterte said.

The Philippines has at least 22,000 active COVID-19 cases. —AOL/RSJ, GMA News