Those involved in the illegal sale of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines should be ashamed of themselves, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said on Monday.
In a Palace press briefing, Roque renewed his warning against the illegal sale of Covid-19 jabs, reminding the public that these were not yet cleared for commercial use.
“Hindi po ibinebenta ang mga bakuna at hindi po tayo papayag na nanakawin ang bakuna para magkaroon ng pera ang iba. Para sa pandemya po ito (Vaccines are not sold and we will not allow them to be stolen so that others could make a business out of it. This is for the pandemic),” he said.
He said it is inhumane to make a business out of the suffering of other people, especially now that there is a scarce global supply of vaccines.
“Mahiya naman kayo kung pagkakakitaan pa ninyo itong pagdadalamhati ng ating bayan dahil nga po sa pandemya (You should be ashamed of making profit out of the suffering of our people because of this pandemic),” he added.
All-out investigation
Meanwhile, Roque assured the government will go “all-out” in investigating those behind the illegal sale of Covid-19 vaccines.
“Iniimbestigahan pa po iyan at mayroon naman pong batch numbers iyan para ma-trace saan intended iyang bakuna na iyan (We will investigate that and those vaccines have batch numbers so that they can be traced to where they were originally intended),” he said.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier condemned the illegal selling of Covid-19 vaccines, nothing that it not only hampers the rollout of the country's vaccination program but puts the health and safety of the buyer in danger.
Late last month, three individuals were arrested for the alleged selling of 300 doses of Covid-19 vaccines developed by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech Ltd.
The three suspects were arrested in an operation, while another suspect is at large, according to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
As of July 4, over 11.7 million individuals have been vaccinated against Covid-19 since the country kicked off its inoculation on March 1, 2021. Of this figure, 2,868,905 are now fully vaccinated. (PNA)
