MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo yesterday said government officials should set an example to the public in following health protocols to stop the spread of COVID-19.
“We should set an example. No one should be excused because no one is spared from the virus,” Robredo said in her weekly program over radio station dzXL. “We should comply whatever is the policy on the ground.”
The Vice President made the statement after Philippine National Police chief Gen. Debold Sinas, who tested positive for COVID-19, reportedly skipped screening protocols when he visited Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro last week.
“It is our responsibility (to ensure) that we are not carriers of the virus,” Robredo stressed. For her, Sinas should have waited for the result of his swab test before flying to Calapan.
She also urged the government to expedite the deployment of vaccines for health workers amid the rapid increase of COVID-19 cases in the country, noting that only 30,000 of them are vaccinated every week.
“The deployment should really be fast-tracked. We should not settle for 30,000 a week which is what we are doing now,” Robredo said.
National Task Force against COVID-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., however, explained that the vaccination of health workers must be done in batches in light of possible adverse effects and the impact on the manning requirements of health facilities.
To date, the Philippines has received 600,000 doses of vaccines from China’s Sinovac Biotech and 525,600 doses from the United Kingdom-based drug company AstraZeneca.
The country is expected to receive another one million doses of vaccines from Sinovac later this month.