Lacson on vaccination efforts: Incompetence is infectious

Hitting supposed delays in the government's procurement of COVID-19 vaccines, Senator Panfilo Lacson on Monday warned the Philippines' vaccine czar about working with "incompetent" personalities.

Lacson said vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. is "doing everything he can" to secure vaccines, but added: "Ang incompetence like the coronavirus is infectious. Nakakahawa 'yan. If you hang around with incompetent people, in the long run mahahawa ka."

At a Senate hearing, the senator questioned why the government is taking "too long" to respond to vaccine initiatives by companies and other countries.

He said that in one instance, the Department of Health (DOH) took four months to reply to Pfizer's overview of its candidate vaccine. In another, he said the DOH replied to Sinopharm's letter of interest in conducting collaborative clinical trials in the Philippines only after 10 days.

The senator also said the Chinese ambassador was recently overheard saying that Philippine officials “keep flirting with us (on the vaccines), but we need their commitment and they don’t want to commit.”

He said the Philippines' actions fail standards for ease of doing business.

"Nag-uusap kami ni Senate President, kung makinig kami sa briefing materials wala tayong problema, para tayong nasa langit. But it’s in the implementation. Yung reaction, yung responses to emergencies," he said.

“I repeat, 25-26 Filipinos per day ang namamatay since January last year. 1,300 yung na-infect daily. Hindi ba emergency yan? Wala bang sense of urgency? Why can't we respond or react or act on the initiatives of the other parties as quickly as we sense it as an emergency?" he added.

Responding to Lacson, Galvez said he disagreed, explaining that the Philippines will be able to get 25 million doses of a Chinese vaccine "on time."

Galvez also said that the government has secured 30 million doses in another agreement and may sign a deal for 60 million more this week.

He said the first vaccine delivery to the Philippines is expected on February 20. The first shots may be administered in the last week of February, he said. — RSJ, GMA News