There were no representatives of Chinese firm Sinovac Biotech during the resumption of the Senate Committee of the Whole's hearing about the government's COVID-19 immunization program on Friday morning.
Published January 22, 2021, 3:12 PM
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Friday said those who refuse to be vaccinated with Chinese- or Russian-made coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine will go back to the second starting line, or queue up again, and wait for any available vaccine of their own choosing.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III
(MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Duque issued the clarification during today’s third round of public hearing by the Senate Committee of the Whole (COW) on government’s preparation for a planned vaccine rollout in the first quarter of 2022.
Senator Maria Josefa Imelda R. Marcos, a former Ilocos Norte governor, had asked Duque on whether the people could select vaccines other than those made in China and Russia.
endIndex:
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 22) Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said it would take 45 days to vaccinate more than 24 million Filipinos using non-Pfizer vaccine once these become available.
During a Senate hearing, Duque said this took into account two doses of the vaccine, as well as the 4,504 vaccination sites nationwide, three vaccination teams per hospital, and two vaccination teams per rural health unit.
He said non-Pfizer vaccines require less-complicated handling, including refrigerator-level storage, so the rollout could take longer. On the other hand, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine needs minus-70 degrees Celsius freezers so rollout should be fast or around half of the period for other brands, Duque added.
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The Senate panel led by Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III that met with vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. on Wednesday night has committed to honor and respect the terms Galvez had struck with makers of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines so as not to put them in jeopardy.