Directs Galvez, PNP, AFP to use planes, choppers to deliver vaccines to far-flung towns
(Eagle News) — The Philippines has so far received almost 109 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines with the arrival of 2.7 million more Sputnik V doses from Russia.
But President Rodrigo Duterte is worried with some glitches or faults in “the over-all picture of the vaccination.”
“As of today, nearly 109 million doses have arrived in the country. It is now our job to get these doses in the arms of every Filipino,” he said in his latest Talk to the People on Tuesday, Nov. 2.
As of Nov. 2, the country has vaccinated 35.5 percent of the target population, Duterte said.
He is however worried with the slow vaccination rollout in the municipalities outside of Metro Manila, particularly in the provinces and other far-flung areas, and has ordered the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to help in the transport of the vaccines to towns and cities.
“May nakita kaming fault lines sa overall picture ng program ng vaccination. Eh medyo hindi ako …nakuntento,” Duterte said.
-60.4 million doses already administered in PHL-
As of Tuesday, Nov. 2, a total of 60,406,424 Covid-19 vaccine shots have been administered nationwide, according to the government’s National Covid-19 Vaccination Dashboard uploaded on the official website of the Department of Health.
Of this number, around 27.7 million individuals have already been fully vaccinated, while 32.6 million have received their first dose.
The 76-year old Duterte, who is in his last year of his term, said he is ordering vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., as well as the PNP and AFP to make sure that local governments receive their needed vaccine doses so the country meets the target of 1 million jabs administered daily.
He said PNP and AFP air assets — its planes and helicopters — should help in the delivery of the life-saving vaccines to the municipalities, and not just deliver these at the provincial level.
“Hindi ko malaman kung saan talaga nagkakamali, kung may mali,” Duterte said in his Talk To the People.
“Bakit mahina ang paglabas ng bakuna? Dito sa national, medyo ok. Ang problema padating doon sa provincial, regional level, doon nagkakaroon ng medyo problema so that even in the matter of deploying them to the proper site, mahina,” he said.
“So sabi ko gamitin na lang ang mga air assets ng PNP, pati AFP. Ang pag-deliver doon sa eroplano, tapos yung mga helicopter nandoon na, … (and) will take over. Sila na ang maghatid doon sa mga municipal governments,” he said.
But Duterte said that the problem on sufficient resources and manpower at the municipal level should be addressed for the administration of the vaccines to the population.
“Ang problema nito, kung pagdating doon, mayroon bang sufficient number of people who can do the task of injecting?” he said as he also directed the PNP and the AFP to help in this.
“I hope that the local governments, the mayors, would take time to attend to this problem of delay,” he said.
Duterte said that the COVID-19 vaccines should be directly delivered to the municipalities, and that this should not pass through the provincial governments anymore.
“Di na dadaan sa provincial government, diretso na sa munisipyong nangangailangan,” he said.
-LGU execs who can’t speed up vaccine rollout in their areas to be held accountable-
The Philippine president said he would be holding local government units which would not be able to administer the delivered jabs expeditiously accountable for this.
He said he has already directed Secretary Eduardo Año of the Department of Interior and Local Government to sanction LGUs and “local chief executibes who are not performing nor using the doses given to them in a most expeditious and efficient manner.”
“I will hold each and every LGU accountable for this,” he said.
“I have ordered Secretary Galvez, the PNP and the AFP to provide all the necessary support to our LGUs particularly in the delivery of vaccines and the mobilization of resources,” Duterte said.
He said that all LGUs should be supported so that the country could achieve the target of 1 million jabs administered daily.
The latest Sputnik V doses — the 2.7 million doses delivered on Tuesday, Nov 2, is the biggest shipment so far from Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute.
“Of this latest shipment, 1,350,000 doses will be administered as Component 1, while the other half will be given as Component 2,” the National Task Force Against COVID-19 said in a release.
-Duterte thanks countries that donated vaccines to PH-
President Duterte thanked Russian president Vladimir Putin for the vaccine shipments from Russia.
“I thank Russia particularly President Vladimir Putin for ensuring that we receive doses in a timely manner,” Duterte said in his latest Talk to the People on Nov. 2.
He also thanked the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, German and other countries which donated COVID-19 vaccines to the country.
As of Tuesday, Nov. 2, the country received a total of 108,912,460 procured and donated doses of COVID-19 vaccines since February.
“With the fresh shipment of Sputnik V vaccines, the country has received a total of 4,390,000 doses from the Russian-based manufacturer,” according to the NTF against COVID-19.
Russian Ambassador to the Philippines Marat Pavlov, Foreign Affairs Asst. Sec. Jaime Ledda, Department of Health (DOH) Usec. Ma. Carolina Vidal-Taiño, DOH Director Ariel Valencia, Philippine Archipelago International Trading Corporation (PAITC) Chairman Benito Yap Aw, and PAITC President Olivia Limpe Aw also witnessed the arrival of the Sputnik V vaccines.
The Philippines targets to fully vaccinate at least 50 percent of its target population by year-end, and President Duterte is confident the country could achieve this.
On Nov. 3, the Philippines also started the nationwide rollout of vaccines for the rest of the pediatric population, or children aged 12 to 17. They will be given either Pfizer or Moderna doses, both of which had been given emergency use authority (EUA) for children 12 years and above.
(Eagle News Service)