Expect more deaths due to scant COVID-19 vaccine supply — Duterte

Health workers attend to person-under-investigation for COVID19 on a public hospital in Manila.
INQUIRER PHOTO / RICHARD A. REYES

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte warned the public Thursday night to expect more coronavirus-related deaths due to the continuing unavailability of COVID-19 vaccine supply.

In his second ‘Talk to the People’ address this week following his video call with Russia Pres. Vladimir Putin, Duterte bared he did not know when the Philippines would get enough COVID-19 vaccines to inoculate all Filipinos.

“Itong vaccine na itong pinag-usapan natin ganito, wala sana ito kung mayroong vaccine available. Eh wala. Hanggang ngayon the word ‘unavailable’ is nandiyan. Unavailable because there are not — there’s no sufficient supply to inoculate the world,” Duterte said in a pre-recorded speech aired Thursday.

(We won’t be talking about vaccines if supply is readily available. But there is none. Until now, the word is ‘unavailable’. Unavailable because there’s not sufficient supply to inoculate the world.)

“Matagal pa ito. Sabihin ko sa iyo marami pang mamamatay dito. Hindi ko lang maturo kung sino,” he added.

(This will take long. I tell you, many more will die because of this. I just can’t say who.)

In order to achieve herd immunity, the Philippines has targeted to vaccinate 70 percent of its population or 70 million people. But the country has only so far vaccinated over 1 million individuals.

Of this number, more than 162,000 individuals already received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

EDV