Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that he regretted not getting vaccinated for COVID-19. He made the admission after testing positive for the virus.
In his regular palace briefing held on Monday, March 15, Roque said that he could have avoided contracting the virus if he made the ‘cut’ in the first rounds of vaccination in the rollout of China-made Sinovac BioTech shots at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) on March 1.
“Nagsisisi nga ako na hindi ako nagpabakuna noong panahon na sa PGH kasi kung hindi siguro naubusan at napabakunahan ako sa PGH, siguro hindi na ako nadapuan ngayon [ng COVID-19],” he said.
Roque was present in the said vaccine rollout at the PGH, but he was not able to get vaccinated as he explained that the medical frontliners should be prioritized first.
“It was really, I think, sad na hindi ako nakapagpabakuna but we also have to follow protocols na unahin muna ‘yung mga medical frontliners.
“So ang aking pakiusap doon sa mga medical frontliners, kung mayroon pa ho, kunin niyo na ‘yan. Nandyan na ho ang bakuna, kunin ninyo na ho kaysa ma-include kayo sa datos gaya ko.”
Roque also admitted that he tested for positive COVID-19, but he is asymptomatic.
“As of 11:29 this morning, nakuha ko po ang resulta na positibo po ako para sa COVID.
“Wala po akong nararamdaman, I am asymptomatic,” he said.
Meanwhile, Netizens have given mixed reactions on social media regarding Roque’s admission of regret for not getting vaccinated for COVID-19.
One Netizen noted that even if Roque got vaccinated, he can still acquire the coronavirus since the vaccines are still not proven to prevent transmissibility.
Let’s set some facts straight here:
1.Roque is not up there in the vaccination priority population.
2.Even if he did get vaccinated, it’d only be the first dose.
3.COVID-19 vaccines have not been proven to prevent transmissibility, none of them 100% efficacious either. https://t.co/UFMeF2r6Kg— Barnaby Lo 吳宗鴻 (@barnabychuck) March 15, 2021
“COVID-19 vaccines have not been proven to prevent transmissibility, none of them 100% efficacious either,” the Netizen wrote.
Another Netizen mentioned that even a government official like Roque is not properly informed about the vaccine’s efficacy.
Mismong taong gobyerno na, spokesperson pa for that matter… didnt know how the vaccine works. Its full effectivity happens 2 weeks after the 2nd shot.
Imagine for one year this is how evidently incompetent people the people who are supposedly in charge. #pilipinaskongmahal
— allenxndr (@allenxndr) March 15, 2021
“Imagine for one year this is how evidently incompetent people the people who are supposedly in charge,” the Netizen said.
Other people mentioned that Roque is just putting an act and said that he should first read about the COVID-19 vaccines before he opens his mouth in public.
https://twitter.com/Papampodi1/status/1371445931380371457
Kahit po magpabakuna kau… hindi naman 1 day lng ang incubation period ng covid. You could have been infected last Feb pa or jan.
— Shen (@shenSFRD) March 16, 2021
https://twitter.com/leo7733/status/1371494439806496775
Gimik para maengganyo mga tao to take sinovac?
Tricky kung ganun dahil magwowork lang itong gimik na to kung, una sa lahat, may pakealam ang tao na nagkasakit siya.
— Nikki (@macronikki) March 15, 2021
Harry Roque saying na "sumunod naman ako sa protocols ginawa ko naman lahat" but still got the virus is indirect admission that individual action can only protect you so far if systemic safeguards against the virus isn't there. In short, the government is a failure.
— nef (@infamouspen) March 15, 2021
Nag hihintay pa kasi sa smuggled Pfizer and aroganteng higad na to.
— Bihayb (@Bihayb1) March 15, 2021
https://twitter.com/paulouisem/status/1371447375416324103
This stupidity is making the vaccine information worse.
— Aslo Moslem (@Aslomoslem1) March 15, 2021
https://twitter.com/lakwatsarah/status/1371461337625239556
Is @attyharryroque included in the government's COVID-19 vaccination priority list? Or is this a slip-of-the-tongue public admission that the COVID-19 vaccination priority system is just for show? pic.twitter.com/coWokY0J05
— Goofy Goof (@djvcrame) March 15, 2021