Duterte: No COVID-19 vaccine for drug pushers

President Rodrigo Duterte said drug pushers will not be vaccinated against COVID-19.

"Drug pusher, wala kayo," Duterte said in a public address aired Friday.

Calling drug pushers and drug lords "dogs," the President said he will instead give the vaccine to poor communities.

"'Yun ang utos ko. 'Yan ang gusto ko. Hindi maganda? Hindi talaga maganda. Mga tao, hindi pala tao sila, tingin ko [sa] mga drug pusher, drug lord, aso. Tingin ko sa kanila... hindi ako magtulong sa inyo, sinisira niyo ang Pilipinas, pinapatay niyo ang tao," he said.

Duterte's administration is known for its anti-illegal drug campaign that has resulted in the deaths of thousands of alleged drug users and peddlers, many of them poor.

Twenty-one inmates at the Bureau of Corrections are said to have died of COVID-19. At least nine of them were convicted of or linked to drug offenses.

Earlier in his address, Duterte said he will prioritize poor Filipinos, followed by middle-income earners and the military and the police, when a vaccine against COVID-19 is available.

He said the military will be the "implementing arm" of the vaccination.

He previously said he has asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to allow the Philippines to be "one of the first" to access a vaccine China will produce.

Beijing said it will prioritize the Philippines.—AOL/RSJ, GMA News