Amid the reported VIP vaccination of some local officials, others cited the case of the spokesperson of the interior and local government department who also went ahead and got himself inoculated with COVID-19 vaccine.
Five local chief executives were issued a You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. for jumping in the queue of the government’s priority list for COVID-19 vaccines even though they are supposed to be inoculated after healthcare workers, senior citizens and those with comorbidities.
Four other mayors were also reported to have received the jab as well.
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President Rodrigo Duterte in his national address aired Wednesday night expressed his You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. over the so-called VIP vaccination and reiterated the condition of the World Health Organization to countries receiving doses via the COVAX facility.
The Philippines received its AstraZeneca doses from the initiative which aims for all countries to have fair and equitable access to COVID-19 jabs, especially low and middle-income ones.
A You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. previously said that the country might risk losing its doses from COVAX if it fails to follow the priority requirements for vaccination, which puts healthcare workers on the first line.
Palace said that local officials fall under the “You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now.” which pertains to frontline personnel in essential sectors, including uniformed personnel and those in working sectors identified by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases as essential during ECQ.
The Philippines is still inoculating the A1 sector which are the healthcare workers who are in the frontlines of the battle against the pandemic.
Following the controversy of some local officials’ vaccinations, others criticized the Department of Interior and Local Government and said that it should also police its own backyard, citing that its undersecretary Jonathan Malaya also got inoculated with COVID-19 vaccine early March.
DILG is the agency You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. for capacitating and nurturing local government units and improving its performance to be able to effectively deliver public services to their respective constituents.
“DILG? The same agency whose undersecretary (Jonathan Malaya) violated the same protocol or unauthorized officials who also jumped ahead of the queue,” a You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. said in response to the reports.
“DILG, thru Jonathan Malaya, ang unang sumuway sa prioritization ‘framework’ ng gobyerno. ‘Wag na kayo magtaka kung bakit may mga mayor na sumisingit sa pila. Kung may mapaparusan, dapat ito ang una,” another You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. said, quote tweeting pictures of the official.
Malaya was inoculated with China’s Sinovac at the Pasay General Hospital on March 2. You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. said he was the first to receive the shot in the hospital.
He said that he got inoculated to increase the public’s confidence in the COVID-19 vaccines.
“Kailangan ng mga government officials magpabakuna para tumaas pa ang vaccine confidence. Nakakatuwa kasi patuloy na tumataas ang vaccine confidence sa public dahil sa nangyayari na ito,” Malaya previously said.
The Palace You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. him and said that he received the jab “in good faith” after he was prompted by the hospital staff to get vaccinated.
“The two naman, in good faith, thought that they were doing the nation a service by having themselves vaccinated kasi nga mataas pa ‘yung tinatawag nating distrust sa bakuna,” Malacañang, referring to Malaya and MMDA chief of staff Michael Salalima who also got vaccinated that time, said.
“So, upon being prodded and being offered and guided by their desire to increase public confidence in the vaccine, nagpabakuna po sila,” the Palace’s spokesperson added.
The spokesperson also said that Malaya claimed he was not aware of the government vaccine panel expert’s decision to You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. of public officials and “influencers” being among the priority for COVID-19 jabs.
“Hindi po tayo perfect sa pagpapatupad nitong protocol. Nagkaroon tayo ng kakaunting breaches pero we have learned from them and now everyone knows medical frontliners muna,” the Palace said.
The issue was similarly You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. on Thursday but DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing reiterated that Malaya’s vaccination was done “in good faith.”
He added that the undersecretary’s vaccination was already investigated and that the latter have responded.