By NG Seruela
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte again urged the public to get vaccinated against COVID-19 amid the Delta variant threat.
In his Talk to the People on Wednesday (July 29) evening, he asked the public “not to wait” for what occurred in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand to happen to the Philippines amid the spread of the Delta variant cases in the said countries.
He emphasized the dangers of the Delta variant compared to the other variants.
“Itong variant Delta is causing so many scary stories for us kaya kung sabi na four times more aggressive, more transmissibility is faster than the usual COVID-19, nakakatakot nga,” he said.
“And I ask ating mga kababayan na hindi na nila hihintay[in] ang nangyari sa Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, grabe. Parang kumagat talaga ang variant D doon at maraming patay. So they are back to square one. Balik sila sa unang araw ng COVID-19,” he added.
He stressed that despite having completed the vaccine, there are still many that have not yet been inoculated against the virus.
“Huwag kayong malulong diyan sa idea na kung tapos na kayo, wala na tayong problema. Kayong nabakunahan na, okay. Ang problema marami pang hindi.”
President Duterte said the reserved vaccines for those who do not want to get vaccinated must be given to the A3 category or to those who are willing to get protected against the vaccine.
“Ngayon, itong ayaw magpabakuna, ibigay na lang kaagad doon sa A3. Doon na sa public kung sinong gusto. Eh ‘yung ayaw magpabakuna sa listahan wala, eh di ayaw nila. Ibigay natin sa iba para makatulong,” he said.
He then warned the individuals who refuse to accept the vaccine not to go outside of their homes because they are a “walking spreader” of the virus.
“Bayan itong pinag-uusapan natin kaya kung ayaw ninyong makatulong by having the vaccines, eh ‘di huwag na lang kayong lumabas ng bahay,” he asserted.
Duterte also called on the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to expedite the vaccine rollout amid the increase of the COVID-19 Delta variant cases in the country.
“So the best way really is to double the time in inoculation of people. Iyan lang talaga ang paraan natin. And we just hope that what we expect to be coming our way in the coming few days is ang mga bakuna darating sana,” the Chief Executive said. -rir
