Palace: COVID-19 surge in the provinces not due to lack of vaccine supply

The Palace on Monday denied that the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the provinces was due to the lack of COVID-19 vaccine supply.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque was responding to criticisms made by Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas who blamed the supposed unfair vaccine distribution over the surge of COVID-19 cases.

Treñas claimed that the government, based on the recommendation of the OCTA Research Group, concentrated distribution in Metro Manila and adjacent provinces.

Roque said that Metro Manila and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal only got 32% of the country's 12 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.

"I can assure Mayor Treñas that unfortunately in terms of rising COVID-19 cases, ang solusyon po talaga ay mask, hugas, iwas," said Roque.

(The solution is wearing masks, frequent hand washing, and social distancing.)

"At kabahagi ng solusyon siyempre po ang bakuna, pero kumakalat pa rin po ang COVID, dahil hindi po sumusunod ang ating ilang mga kababayan doon sa pakiusap ng ating Presidente na mag-mask, hugas, at iwas," Roque added.

(Part of the solution is vaccinations. But COVID-19 is spreading because some are not following minimum public health standards.)

The spokesman also emphasized that it was indisputable that non-compliance to health rules and the emergence of new variants of the coronavirus was causing the spike in COVID-19 cases.

"Bagama’t sabi nga po ng Presidente, iyong mga lugar na tumaas ang kaso, magkakaroon po ng mas maraming bakuna. Pero ang dahilan po talaga ng paglobo iyong kakulangan sa mask, hugas at iwas. Iyan na po ay established fact at saka iyong mga new variants, dahil nga sa new variants, mas nakakahawa, mas dapat matindi ang mask, hugas at iwas," Roque said.

(While the President said that the vaccines against COVID-19 will be distributed to areas with high COVID-19 incidence, the culprit is non-compliance with minimum public health standards, and that is a fact, alongside those new variants which are more transmissible.)

Roque also said that the government has a highly competent pool of experts and does not solely rely on the OCTA Research group.

"While we welcome all suggestions, IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force) has a pool of experts from DOH, UP-PGH, Ateneo School of Medicine. We have enough experts in our fold," Roque said.

"Of course, OCTA's findings are considered, but I can assure you, our ears are not only for OCTA." — DVM, GMA News