President Rodrigo Duterte jeered at senators who favored the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech.

In his weekly address, he referred to the article published on a national broadsheet quoting senators calling on the national government to prioritize negotiations with Pfizer.

“Gusto ninyong Pfizer, kayoing mga senador? In Norway, 25 persons died after receiving Pfizer vaccination. Gusto ninyo? Mag-order kami para sa inyo,” Duterte said.

Among those who made the calls are Senators Grace Poe and Risa Hontiveros.

Senators Francis Pangilinan, Panfilo Lacson, and Sonny Angara urged the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) to grant emergency use authorization (EUA) to other vaccines with similar efficacy.

In the same briefing, Duterte also chided critics of Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine CoronaVac.

“Ayaw ko ng mga off tangent na mga tirado ninyo. ‘Eh bakit ba ito si Duterte Sinovac nang Sinovac?’ Hoy, kung sino ka man, ganito ‘yan. Long before noong pumutok ito, tumawag na ako kay President Xi Jinping,” he said.

“Tapos sabi ko, ‘Wala kaming resources. We do not know how to make it. Please do not forget the Philippines’,” Duterte added.

President Xi, according to Duterte, told him that they need to prioritize first their own citizens whose population runs over a billion.

This is not the first time that the Philippine leader has expressed preference over China’s vaccine after he slammed Western companies in a national address in September last year for asking an advancement payment of the vaccines.

In a recent visit to the Philippines, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the national government that it is donating 500,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

According to the statement from the Department of Foreign Affairs, the donation of the vaccines is “in keeping with President Xi Jinping’s commitment to President Rodrigo Duterte.”

However, there was no mention of what brand and when these vaccines are set to arrive in the country. (ES)