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Pacquiao willing to get first shot of COVID-19 vaccine before poor Pinoys
Filipino boxing champ and Senator Manny Pacquiao on Monday said he is willing to first try the COVID-19 vaccine before these are administered to the marginalized Filipinos who are targeted to be covered by the immunization program of the government.
"Pag na-approve na 'yan, may vaccine na, ako muna magpa-vaccine para bago ang sambayanang Pilipino, bago ang mahihirap," Pacquiao said in an interview on ANC.
He added that he would "willingly" do it regardless of which country the vaccine would come from.
The first COVID-19 vaccine that may be available in the country in March 2021 would probably come from China, according to National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr.
The Palace also said President Rodrigo Duterte is willing to get vaccinated
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The inoculation of the Chief Executive, however, may not be witnessed by the public.
“Ginawa mo namang spectacle ang Presidente. Hindi naman kinakailangan na ipakitang live ‘yan, but in any case it’s the President’s decision. I will not second-guess the President,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said at a press briefing.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodor Locsin, meanwhile, slammed critics questioning the efficacy of available COVID-19 vaccines, saying no government will allow a "defective" dose developed in their own country to be injected on its people.
"No aspiring great power will ever, ever distribute a vaccine that they do not believe sincerely is the best. Because if they did that and it failed out there, the reputation will be destroyed for the next two, three centuries," he said.
The Philippine government is eyeing to seal the deal with various vaccine manufacturers by the end of this year or early January, according to Galvez. — Dona Magsino/RSJ, GMA News