Senator Bong Go is “challenging” vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, Jr. and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III to take the first shots of coronavirus vaccines once they become available in the country to prove its safety to the public.
Go discussed a report citing public apprehension about getting COVID-19 vaccines due to safety concerns. A Social Weather Stations survey in November showed that only 66% of Filipinos are willing to be vaccinated.
“I’m challenging Sec. Galvez, once available na po yung safe na vaccine, ay papakita niya, along with Sec. Duque, sila po ang unang magpapaturok ng vaccine once safe para to encourage naman po,” Go said.
[I’m challenging Sec. Galvez, once a safe vaccine becomes available, he along with Sec. Duque, should be the first to be injected the vaccine to encourage the people.]
The government is planning to spend as much as P73 billion in loans to secure COVID-19 vaccines to achieve “herd immunity”, Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado said.
According to the budget chief, the country has P10 billion in standby funds for vaccine procurement under Bayanihan 2, while there is a P2.5 billion initial budget under the proposed national budget for 2021.
The P73 billion budget will be enough to vaccinate around 60 million Filipinos, Avisado said.
