Duterte ready to get first COVID-19 vaccine shot but not in public, says Palace

January 19, 2021

President Rodrigo Duterte is ready to take the first shot of coronavirus vaccine to ally concern on the immunization program of the government, Malacanang said on Tuesday.

However, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte did not want to make public his immunization similar to other world leaders, such as Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

"His (Duterte's) answer was 'No problem, I will take the vaccine as soon as it is available', because according to him, he really needs to have a vaccine," he said.

But Roque added, the 75-year old Duterte wants his vaccination to be announced to the public after he received the shot, similar to United Kingdom's Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh.

"He (Duterte) said this does not need to be shown to the public. He is taking the route of the British Sovereign, because the decision of Queen Elizabeth and her husband was to make the vaccinations private," Roque said.

He said the Palace will just announce to the public once Duterte has finished his inoculations.

Duterte earlier said he wanted all the vulnerable sectors and poor Filipinos to get their COVID-19 vaccines first and he and other Cabinet officials would just be last in the list.

His statement came amid unwillingness of many Filipinos to be vaccinated.

The government is targeting 70 million Filipinos to be inoculated to achieve herd immunity. Celerina Monte/DMS