‘END IS IN SIGHT’

Duterte appeals to public to get vaccinated vs. COVID-19

President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday renewed his appeal to the public to get the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible, saying that getting vaccinated against the disease is necessary for the Philippines to overcome the pandemic.

“I appeal to all of our kababayans. Please, get vaccinated against COVID-19 and be the government’s partner in preventing further spread of the disease. I encourage you to get vaccinated at the soonest possible time,” he said in a speech at Villamor Airbase in Pasay City, where 487,200 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from the global COVAX facility landed from Belgium.

COVAX is a global scheme that pools funds for vaccines that will be distributed to low- and middle-income countries.

The President stressed that the vaccines are safe and are key to reopening society.

“We may not be out of the woods yet, but we are making progress and the end is in sight. With your cooperation, we will overcome this pandemic and ensure the health and safety of everyone,” he pointed out.

“I assure the Filipino people that your government will ensure the immediate distribution of these available vaccines to our communities,” he added.

The Philippine government is battling skepticism about vaccines from many Filipinos, with a recent OCTA Research poll finding that only 19 percent of Filipinos were willing to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

At the same event World Health Organization country representative Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe said that another 4.5 million AstraZeneca doses should arrive by the end of May.

The Philippines earlier received 600,000 doses of Sinovac's COVID-19 vaccine, a donation from the Chinese government.

The country’s COVID-19 vaccination program kicked off on March 1, with health workers at the top of the priority list to get vaccinated.

The Philippines has at least 1.7 million health workers. — BM, GMA News