MANILA, Sept 22 (NNN-PNA) – Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte, today condemned the rich countries’ “selfish” plan, to hoard COVID-19 vaccines, while poor and developing nations are experiencing vaccine drought.
“There is a man-made drought of vaccines ravaging poor countries,” Duterte said, in a pre-recorded virtual address at the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
“Rich countries hoard life-saving vaccines, while poor nations wait for trickles,” he added.
“This is shocking beyond belief and must be condemned for what it is, a selfish act that can neither be justified rationally nor morally,” Duterte said.
Duterte urged the “privileged” countries “to fully support the COVAX Facility and further strengthen other (vaccine) cooperation mechanisms.”
“We need this to save more lives, break the cycle of variants, and help ensure global economic recovery,” Duterte added.
The Philippines now has over 2.4 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 37,074 deaths. The country administered over 41.79 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, and more than 18.8 million people have been fully vaccinated. The government aims to vaccinate up to 77 million people this year.
China has been delivering COVID-19 vaccines to the Philippines since Feb 28. It was the first to provide vaccines to the Philippines, allowing it to kick off its vaccination drive on Mar 1.
The Philippines has received, so far, nearly 65 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from different vaccine makers. China delivered more than 50 percent of the Philippines’ COVID-19 vaccines stockpile.
