Duterte prefers to have COVID-19 vaccine given in buttocks — Palace

Malacañang on Tuesday insisted that President Rodrigo Duterte will receive the COVID-19 vaccine in private despite suggestions for him to do it publicly.

Duterte’s spokesperson Harry Roque said the vaccination could not be shown in public since the President preferred his buttocks as the injection site.

“I think so. He has said so. Sabi niya nga dahil sa puwet siya magpapasaksak, so hindi pupuwedeng  public,” Roque said when asked during his press briefing whether Duterte’s decision on the matter was final.

Roque, however, recognized that the President was the “best communicator” when it came to the government’s campaign on compliance to minimum health standards to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III last Friday told a Senate inquiry that he will try to convince Duterte to get vaccinated in public to boost vaccine confidence among Filipinos.

Roque earlier said that Duterte 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.

US President Joe Biden, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are among the world leaders whose vaccinations were made in public.

Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. on Monday night said an information campaign is the key to allay fears about vaccination and encouraging Filipinos to take the vaccine.

Galvez also said that the vaccines the Philippines was procuring were widely used in other countries.

The Philippines aims to begin its immunization campaign next month. — RSJ, GMA News