While the Philippine supply of Covid-19 vaccine remains limited, Malacañang on Monday said it does not see a need to make vaccination mandatory to all suitable Filipinos.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made this remark after Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. filed a measure seeking to require all suitable Filipinos to get jabs as protection against respiratory disease.
“Wala pa pong posisyon ang ating Presidente tungkol dito (The President does not have a position on this yet),” Roque said in a virtual press briefing.
Roque acknowledged that vaccine confidence among Filipinos has improved, but noted that the country’s current supply is limited.
“Sa ngayon naman po, mukhang hindi naman kinakailangan mandatory ‘yan dahil inaantay pa natin ang bulko ng ating mga bakuna so tama lang naman na habang wala pa ang karamihan ng bakuna natin ay hindi pa nagnanais nagpabakuna ang lahat (For now, it does not need to be mandatory because we are still waiting for the bulk of our vaccines to arrive so while it has yet to arrive it’s only normal that others don’t want to get vaccinated yet),” he said.
When more Covid-19 vaccine doses arrive in the country, Roque said the national government could exercise its “police power” to make Covid-19 immunization mandatory.
“Bilang isang abugado po, kabahagi po ng police power ng estado ang i-require ang bakuna kung talagang kinakailangan (As a lawyer, it is part of police power of the state to require vaccination if it is really necessary),” he added.
President Rodrigo Duterte, in several speeches, has maintained that he would not force anyone to receive anti-Covid-19 shots.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III earlier issued an order prohibiting Covid-19 vaccinations as a requirement for returning to work.
Companies enforcing such a policy could be held liable under the law if they fire or suspend an employee who refuses inoculation against Covid-19, he added.
The Philippines aims to secure 148 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines from several companies to inoculate an initial 50 to 70 million Filipinos this year.
To date, the Philippines has over 3.5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines so far. Of this number, 3 million are China-developed Sinovac’s CoronaVac vaccines while the rest are British-Swedish firm’s AstraZeneca jabs.
A total of 15,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines developed by Russia’s Gamaleya/Sputnik V are set to arrive in the country on April 28 while an additional 500,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines are scheduled for shipment on April 29.
The bulk of vaccine doses from various drugmakers are expected to arrive by the second and third quarters of the year.
In filing House Bill 9252, Barzaga said there is a need to enact legislation “to mandate and promote Covid-19 vaccination” and “instill public confidence in the personal, family and community benefits of immunization.”
“It will be tragic if we have safe and effective vaccines available but people refuse to take them,” Barzaga said.
Under the measure, no persons shall be allowed to enter, convene, or occupy public places, whether or not government or privately owned if he or she has not been inoculated.
Persons with medical conditions certified by a doctor may be exempted from getting the Covid-19 vaccine.