MANILA – The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine recipients will no longer be informed of what brand will be administered to them before the inoculation, the Department of Health (DOH) announced on Wednesday.
This strategy according to the agency’s undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje, will speed up the rollout and overcrowding at vaccination sites to avoid what happened in several vaccination sites where Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines were used.
“Those who will refuse vaccination because they are preferring a different brand of COVID-19 vaccine will have to go back to the tail of the line,” the undersecretary said on a virtual press briefing.
The official pointed out that only the A1 priority group or the health workers have the “right of refusal” since some brands were not suitable for them.
“There should be no right of refusal. Kung ano ‘yung vaccine, kunin mo,” Cabotaje stressed.
President Rodrigo Duterte, meanwhile, urged the public to refrain from choosing the vaccine brand they wanted to receive.
“There will be no discrimination at saka hindi kayo makapili kung ano ang bakuna pareho lahat ‘yan,” Duterte said on Tuesday. “Kung ano ang nasa harap ninyo, ‘yun na. Do not ask for a special kind.”
Duterte said all vaccines are “potent” and “effective” so there is no reason to be choosy./PN
