Quezon lawmaker in hot water for getting vaccine jab as ‘substitute’ for doctor-son

Quezon Rep. Angelina “Helen” Tan, chair of the House committee on health. Screengrab from the HOR livestream

MANILA, Philippines — Government is mounting a probe on a member of the House of Representatives who had been among the first recipients of the coronavirus vaccine that was reserved for health care workers.

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said Quezon Rep. Angelina “Helen” Tan, who sits as chair of the House committee on health, will be subject to an investigation on allegations that she had received a Sinovac vaccine shot as a substitute for her eldest son who was said to be a doctor at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC).

Tan, the first among lawmakers to get inoculated with the vaccine, claimed she was inoculated with the dose intended for her son as a surgeon at the said hospital.

Galvez, however, said that the mandate was clear to prioritize frontliners in the health sector in the vaccination, and that there was no directive from the national government that allows the substitution.

“Wala pong directive na gano’n, mali po iyon. Lahat ng 1.7 [million] na frontliners muna sa ngayon. Wala po munang mga dependent. We are protecting the institutions. Kulang po tayo,” Galvez said in an interview over dzBB, when sought to comment on Tan’s vaccination.

“Mali po iyon, we will investigate on that just in case meron pong nangyaring ganon,” he added.

EDV