Palace clarifies old video of Duterte discouraging booster shots vs. COVID-19

Acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles on Monday clarified the old video of President Rodrigo Duterte discouraging the public from getting booster shots against COVID-19.

In a statement, Nograles said the video clip from September 2021, which recently resurfaced online, should be viewed in the "proper context," pointing out that the government's priority that time was to fully vaccinate Filipinos.

“At that point, 21 million of our countrymen were fully vaccinated, and our priority was to increase this number, which is why the provision of booster shots had yet to be approved,” he said.

In his Talk to the People recorded on September 30, 2021, Duterte told the public not to get more than two doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

“Tama na yang dalawang doses. Huwag ninyo sobrahan, delikado (Two doses are enough. Don’t take excessive doses, it is dangerous)" Duterte had said.

Nograles said it was only in November 2021 that the government approved booster doses when the country obtained an ample supply of vaccines and a substantial percentage of fully vaccinated among the population.

“To further encourage the public to get their booster shots, the President in his December 21, 2021 address enjoined the public to ‘take advantage’ of the country’s sufficient supply of vaccines against COVID-19 and get their booster shots to control the spread of the highly-transmissible Omicron variant,” he said.

“We reiterate that there is clear evidence that COVID-19 booster shots provide additional protection against the virus, and urge the public to refrain from sharing disinformation that will endanger the lives of our kababayan, compromise our efforts to contain COVID-19, and undermine our campaign to beat the disease,” he added. —KBK, GMA News