Lacson: Vaccine Rollout Needed ASAP

It is high time the Department of Health and Food and Drug Administration show a sense of urgency in procuring COVID vaccines, Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson said Tuesday.

Lacson said the DOH and FDA should exercise their power to issue compassionate special permits especially for those who most need them.

“Why don’t they exercise their power to issue a compassionate special permit? Their officials keep claiming they are still conducting studies. Mamamatay tayo sa ka-study eh,” he said in an interview on TeleRadyo.

“We have to start the rollout of the vaccines soonest. Kahiya-hiya ang nangyayari sa atin,” he added.

Related: Ping sa DOH, FDA: Magbakuna na Kayo!
Continue reading “Lacson: Vaccine Rollout Needed ASAP”

On the President’s ‘No Vaccines, No VFA’ Pronouncement

“No vaccines, no VFA!” Treating the Americans like a bunch of yokels might have sealed our fate to settle for China’s Sinovac in lieu of the US-made Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.

Such a pronouncement from the President is at the very least, unfortunate. I think there could be a more diplomatic or at least a better way of asking a longtime ally to help us avail of the vaccines for our people without sounding like we are blackmailing our way into it.

What is more unfortunate is that we had a good chance to procure vaccines early from the US, but someone from our side dropped the ball, and has yet to be held accountable up to this day.

*****

#PINGterview: Balitaan at Kumustahan

In an interview on Politiko, Sen. Lacson answered questions on:
* Possible veto of questionable items in 2021 budget
* Efforts to procure COVID vaccines
* Calls for reimposition of death penalty
* Hope for the New Year

MORE DETAILS:
Continue reading “#PINGterview: Balitaan at Kumustahan”

Lacson’s Christmas Wish: Early Procurement of COVID Vaccines, No More Incompetence

The early procurement of COVID vaccines amid renewed government efforts to procure them from the United States is Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson’s wish for this Christmas.

Lacson also said there should be no room for incompetence and ineptitude, especially on the part of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, after the events earlier this week.

“My Christmas wish is simple. I hope we Filipinos survive this pandemic, and we get the needed vaccines soonest,” Lacson said in an interview on DWIZ radio.

But he added the Cabinet, including vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., should help Duque not by defending him in media but by getting his job done.

Continue reading “Lacson’s Christmas Wish: Early Procurement of COVID Vaccines, No More Incompetence”

#PINGterview: ‘Lost Opportunity’ sa COVID Vaccine

In an interview on DZXL, Sen. Lacson detailed how DOH Sec. Francisco Duque III cost the government an opportunity to acquire 10 million doses of COVID vaccines from Pfizer by January 2021.

MORE DETAILS:
Continue reading “#PINGterview: ‘Lost Opportunity’ sa COVID Vaccine”