MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte rejected on Thursday the administration of the third dosage of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccination among fully immunized people.
Duterte voiced disappointment in his pre-recorded Talk to the People that some people are still not satisfied with the two vaccine doses against Covid-19.
He warned fully immunized people that getting “multiple” coronavirus vaccine doses is “dangerous”.
“You know, there are people really who are not contented or hindi sila kampante sa (or not confident about) second or third [Covid-19 vaccine] shot,” Duterte said. “It is not good. ‘Yung iba kasi, nagpapa-ano eh, segurista (Others want to feel secure). But any doctor will tell you that it is bad. Bad as bad. Biruin mo, i-inject mo ang marami (Imagine, you want multiple vaccine shots).”
Duterte claims that receiving two doses of the Covid-19 vaccination is sufficient.
He went on to say that obtaining a booster shot does not guarantee “complete” protection against the coronavirus.
“Tama na ‘yang dalawang doses, huwag ninyong sobrahan. Delikado (Two doses are enough. Do not get multiple shots. It’s dangerous),” Duterte said. “Merong iba, may second, third, fourth, fifth. Hindi naman kailangan (Others want second (third, fourth, and fifth vaccine dose). And it does not add really to the full protection of your body. You can even get contaminated again.”
Due to the limited availability of vaccines in the country, Duterte also told fully vaccinated Filipinos that if they obtain booster shots, they will impede others who want to get inoculated.
“Alam mo (You know), when you do that, a multiple (doses), hindi ka magsabi ng totoo (and you will not tell the truth), you deprive your countrymen, the others na hindi pa sa isang bakuna na maibigay doon sa kapwa mo tao (who have yet to get vaccinated),” he said.
Duterte then urged fully vaccinated people to look after others who have not yet received the Covid-19 vaccines.
“Akala mo (You think), in your poor judgment, kailangan mo pa ng tatlo, apat (you need three or four doses). You deprive the others maski na sabihin mo isa, dalawa (even if you get one or two additional shots). There are a lot of Filipinos who have yet to receive the vaccine. Kindly be so passionate about it, sa kapwa mo tao (your fellow Filipinos),” Duterte said.
A total of 45,147,577 Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered across the country as of Wednesday.
Approximately 21,103,317 people have now been fully immunized against the coronavirus, while 24,044,260 others have received the first dose of the vaccine.
In order to boost the government’s immunization drive, Duterte allowed the vaccination of the general population, including minors, in October.
Duterte expressed optimism that the number of completely vaccinated people would reach over 25 million by October.
“Major cities in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao have reached the 34-percent mark in terms of fully-vaccinated individuals and several have almost reached 50 percent. The percentage of partially vaccinated individuals in various regions follow closely and we hope that this will increase in the coming weeks and months ahead,” he said.
