Duterte fatally misplays Philippines vaccine diplomacy - Asia Times
▻https://asiatimes.com/2020/12/duterte-fatally-misplays-philippines-vaccine-diplomacy
While the United States and United Kingdom start to roll out mass Covid-19 vaccination campaigns, developing countries like the Philippines are scrambling to access affordable and reliable vaccines for their at-risk populations.The United Arab Emirates became the first country to approve the Chinese-made vaccine Sinovac for mass inoculation this month, while other major developing countries such as Indonesia have already received more than a million doses of China-made vaccines. A growing number of Arab and Latin American nations are expected to become among the first recipients of Chinese-made vaccines, with Chinese company Sinopharm preparing to deliver 500 million doses worldwide in the near future.
Countries such as the Philippines, however, are not expected to introduce mass inoculation until the middle of next year after failing to secure enough vaccines in advance from either Western or Chinese pharmaceutical companies.Critics charge this is due largely to a lack of proactiveness on the behalf of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who early on overly committed to China and Russia-made vaccines at the early trial stage.
At the time, he opposed advance payment for now more reliable vaccines from the likes of Pfizer and AstraZeneca, the former of which has claimed a 95% efficacy rate.In a speech to the United Nation’s General Assembly this month, Duterte lamented “gross injustice” in the lack of universal access to vaccines, citing developed countries cornering the bulk of newly available vaccines.Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in facemask during the
“If any country is excluded by reason of poverty or strategic unimporance, this gross injustice will haunt the world for a long time,” the Filipino leader said in a pre-recorded speech for the UN General Assembly’s 31st Special Session in early December.Rich nations have reportedly secured an estimated 80% of the total vaccine supply, clinching access to 3.1 billion doses of vaccines to be delivered over the coming months. What Duterte failed to acknowledge, however, is that his lack of proactiveness and foresight may now be costing his country more lives and even further economic immiseration to the pandemic. According to the International Monetary Fund, the Philippines will suffer the largest fall in projected GDP growth over the next five years, following a prolonged lockdown in response to one of the worst Covid-19 outbreaks in Asia.
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