Senator Panfilo Lacson has yet to clear out speculations as to whether or not he has already taken the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) vaccine.
“Whether or not I had my vaccine is of little significance or no significance at all. What’s important is we should have the vaccine for the majority of our population,” he said in an interview on ANC. “We are targeting 60 million [Filipinos] and we need something like P73.2 billion according to [Finance Secretary Sonny] Dominguez. I think we should focus more on that rather than whether or not I or Majority Leader [Martin] Romualdez of the House had our vaccine injections. ”
In a separate interview on Teleradyo, the senator quipped that he will just laugh off at the rumor.
“Tawa na lang isasagot ko diyan… kung totoo nga. E hindi ko naman inaamin,” he answered.
Last week, Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III joked that Lacson and Majority Leader Martin Romualdez have already gotten their hands on the vaccine.
On Monday, Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. reported that the government is still finalizing negotitiations with four international suppliers namely, AstraZeneca (England), Sinovac (China), and US brands Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.
The vaccine procurement plan indicates that the government will first borrow funding from the Development Bank of the Philippines and Landbank of the Philippines. Next, PITC will secure procurement of the vaccines, then finally deliver it to the IATF then the DOH.
Meanwhile, Romualdez has not issued any statement regarding the allegation yet.