By TED CORDERO, GMA News
Published December 19, 2020 11:17am
Updated December 19, 2020 12:37pm
A woman holds a small bottle labeled with a Vaccine COVID-19 sticker and a medical syringe in this illustration taken April 10, 2020. Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. on Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020 said the Philippine government is targeting to secure a deal with various manufacturers in the next few weeks. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo On the heels of the issue that the Philippines missed an opportunity to have Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine delivered by January next year, the government is targeting to secure a deal with various manufacturers in the next few weeks.
Published December 19, 2020, 7:01 PM
Securing vaccines and inoculating the public against the deadly COVID-19 is “not a race” that is needed to be won by the Philippines, National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez, Jr. said Saturday, Dec. 19.
Galvez made the remark as he took a defensive posture against criticisms that the country is already lagging behind to other nations in terms of vaccine procurement.
“We have to face realities, hindi lang natin tinitignan na mapaaga tayo (we’re not only looking to beat a deadline). It’s not a race. Titignan rin po natin ang safety at efficacy (We should also look into the safety and efficacy [of the vaccine]),” Galvez, who is also the vaccine czar, said in a Laging Handa press briefing.
By JOAHNA LEI CASILAO, GMA News
Published December 19, 2020 6:38pm Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Saturday said his disappointment with Health Secretary Francisco Duque III grew amid allegations that the official failed to secure 10 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Pfizer. Asked if the Duque s negligence was a liability, Sotto said the question should be redirected at President Rodrigo Duterte or Malacañang as the public “already knew his answer.” “Ay, oo [nakadagdag ng disappointment]. Oo, kaya nga ‘yung tanong ninyo, hindi na kailangan kaming tanungin. Ang tanungin niyo ‘yung Malacañang tungkol diyan,” Sotto said in a radio interview.
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Published December 19, 2020, 3:44 PM
Amid controversies in the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines, Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go urged government officials, particularly Cabinet members, Saturday to refrain from finger-pointing and instead work together to implement a whole-of-nation approach to overcome the crisis and help Filipinos recover more quickly.
Sen. Bong Go (Joseph Vidal/Senate PRIB/ MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Go, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, asked fellow public servants to remain united and focused on dealing with the true enemy which is the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Huwag na po muna tayong magturuan at magsiraan pa. Ang problema diyan magkakasama kayo sa Gabinete, kayo pa ang nagtuturuan. Hindi po nakakatulong sa Duterte administration kung kayu-kayo mismo ang nagtuturuan, kung sino ang may kasalanan,” Go said.