League of Provinces head opposes recall of COVID-19 vaccines

Marinduque Governor Presbitero Velasco Jr. on Friday voiced opposition to the Department of Health's move to recall COVID-19 vaccines sent to provinces to vaccinate more medical frontliners in Metro Manila.

Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB, Velasco, president of the League of Provinces of the Philippines, said vaccine supply in the provinces is already limited as it is.

"Yung mga binibigay po sa mga lalawigan ay hindi naman po karamihan kaya palagay ko po ay mahirap yung kukunin pa sa amin iyon," he said.

(The vaccines given to the provinces were not that many in the first place so it would be difficult for us if they will be recalled.)

Velasco urged the national government to consult with the concerned local government officials first if they would be agreeable to have their vaccines recalled.

"Tanong muna sa LGU (local government unit) kung payag sila," he said.
"Kung papayag po ang LGU eh bakit po hindi?"

(They should consult first with the LGU. If the LGU allows it then why not?)

Velasco noted local government officials want enough vaccines to be able to reach herd immunity in their respective areas. "Gusto nga namin mas marami pang bakuna para makapag-create kami ng herd community sa kanya-kanyang lalawigan," he said.

Velasco also said they are worried that recalling the vaccines may pose logistical problems and may result in wastage.

"Kukunin pa ulit ng eroplano [yung mga bakuna], yung pagpreserba po ng bakuna. Mas mahirap po iyon, baka masira pa po," he said.

(The vaccines will be loaded in planes again, then there's the issue of preserving them. That's not easy.)

In a separate interview on Super Radyo dzBB, Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega said only vaccines in provinces near Metro Manila will be recalled to avoid logistical problems.

A 24 Oras report on Thursday said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III has recalled COVID-19 vaccines already sent to the provinces with low cases to vaccinate more health workers and frontliners in the National Capital Region.

Half of the country’s 57,746 active COVID-19 cases are in Metro Manila, the epicenter of COVID-19 in the country. However, only 278,870 doses or around 25% of the country’s vaccine supply was allocated for Metro Manila. —KBK, GMA News