ANDANAR: NO ROOM FOR CORRUPTION IN COVID-19 VACCINE PURCHASE
OZAMIZ
CITY - Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin
Andanar assured that the government maintains its policy of being brand-neutral
and there will be no room for corruption in it’s step to purchase COVID-19
vaccines, during a pocket engagement leading to the Pagdu-aw sa Ozamiz:
Explain, Explain, Explain on Tuesday, February 16, 2021.
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Presidential
Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar on Tuesday
joined the Pagdu-aw sa Ozamiz: Explain, Explain, Explain where he clarified
that the government policy on the purchase of COVID-19 vaccine is to have a
portfolio of it instead of leaning to just one brand.
In an
interview on Asenso Ozamiz News Channel, he said that the government will only
distribute safe and effective vaccines which underwent rigorous processes by
the vaccine panel of experts and were granted emergency use authorization by
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“It is
the policy of the government to be brand-neutral. We are not favoring a
specific brand of the vaccine nor a pharmaceutical company. The President
himself already guaranteed that he will not allow any form of corruption in our
vaccination program,” he said.
Secretary
Andanar discussed that while some remain hesitant about the program because of
the Dengvaxia controversy, the people need to have a constant reminder that the
government is taking careful steps for the COVID-19 vaccine.
“The
vaccines that we are negotiating to purchase are safe. But we cannot blame the
Filipino people for their hesitancy on this because of what we had experienced
with the Dengvaxia,” he said.
“But it
is already done. We have to move forward and we have to show to the public that
the government has a plan,” he added.
He
cited the nationwide information drive of the communications arm of the
government as part of the goal to increase willingness of the greater
population to get vaccinated.
“The
function of the PCOO and its attached agencies is to implement the
communications strategies assigned to us by the National Task Force against
COVID-19 Vaccine Czar Secretary Carlito Galvez,” he said.
“We
will go around the Philippines to explain, explain, explain to the public the
reasons why it is important to get vaccinated and, at the same time, dismiss
and correct fake news about the vaccine,” he added.
PCOO,
PIA to distribute vaccine toolkit to LGUs
Meanwhile,
the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) as the lead agency for the task group
on demand generation, public uptake and communications of the Vaccine Cluster
is producing a vaccine toolkit.
This
toolkit is a manual that contains materials explaining the National Vaccine
Roadmap, its respective communication plan, directives from the President and
national government implementers, videos, and template IEC materials.
It will
be distributed to the local government units, community leaders, and other
civil society and religious organizations by March 2021.
Secretary
Andanar said that of the 2 million copies to be distributed, a copy will be
provided to each of the 42,046 barangays nationwide and a separate one for the
barangay level Sangguniang Kabataan.
