People who do not want to be inoculated should stay indoors to prevent the spread of COVID-19, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte said on Wednesday, adding vaccines should be given to those who are willing to get the shot.
“Itong ayaw magpabakuna, ibigay na lang kaagad doon sa A3. Doon na sa public kung sinong gusto,” President Duterte said during his weekly Talk to the People on COVID-19 amid the threat of the more contagious COVID-19 Delta variant.
“Kayong ayaw magpabakuna, sa listahan wala, eh di ayaw nila. Ibigay natin sa iba para makatulong.”
Individuals unwilling to get vaccinated should not go outside, the President said, instructing the police to escort them back to their homes if they go out because they could be walking spreaders of the virus.
“Walang katapusang tutok kung pagbigyan ko lang kayo. Pag mahina ang loob ko dahil mag iyak-iyak kayo diyan, ay ibang istorya ito,” he said.
“Bayan itong pinag-uusapan natin kaya kung ayaw ninyong makatulong by having the vaccines, eh di huwag na lang kayong lumabas ng bahay.”
The chief executive underscored that it behooves upon the barangay chiefs to make the rounds and see who are vaccinated and who are not.
The President said he can’t wait for a law that will restrict unvaccinated persons from going around and there’s a need for him to act now since public safety is at stake in the midst of the threat from the more infectious mutated variant of the coronavirus.
“Kaya sabihin nating walang batas, eh maghintay pa ba ako sa batas kung marami na naman ang mamamatay? Iyan ang problema,” he argued.
A group of health experts called for a “circuit-breaking” lockdown in the National Capital Region due to the threat posed by the highly contagious variant of COVID-19, which has wrought havoc in Indonesia, Malaysia, India and other parts of the world.
On Wednesday, President Duterte approved the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to put Metro Manila and its four adjacent provinces or the so-called National Capital Region (NCR) Plus, under general community quarantine (GCQ) “with heightened restrictions” from August 1 to 15.
The country has logged a total of 1,566,667 coronavirus infections after the Department of Health (DOH) recorded 4,478 new cases as of July 28.
Active cases in the country totaled 54,552 with 1,484,714 recoveries and 27,401 deaths, according to the DOH. PND
