No explanation needed for Duterte’s decision to get COVID-19 vaccine privately —Roque

There is no need for President Rodrigo Duterte to explain why he changed his mind about taking the COVID-19 vaccine publicly, his spokesperson Harry Roque said Thursday.

“That’s his personal decision, and I don’t think he has to explain,” Roque said at a press briefing.

Duterte previously said he was willing to get inoculated in public and volunteered to get the first shot. He has repeatedly expressed confidence in the vaccines developed by China and Russia.

But Roque said on Tuesday that Duterte, 75, would follow the example of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II whose vaccination was only announced after she and her husband Prince Philip had received their first shots.

Other world leaders, however, were vaccinated against the virus on live television such as US President Joe Biden and Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

The Philippines aims to begin its mass inoculation program next month. —LDF,GMA News