Lacson on whether he received COVID-19 vaccine: That's of little to no significance

MANILA - Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Wednesday again played coy on claims that he has been vaccinated against COVID-19.

"Whether or not I had my vaccine is little significance or no significance at all. What’s significant is we should have the vaccine for the majority of our population. We’re targeting P60 million and we need something like P73.2 billion, according to Sec. Dominguez," he said, referring to Finance Sec. Carlos Dominguez.

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"I think we should focus more on that rather than whether I or Majority Leader Romualdez of the House had our vaccine injections," he said.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III claimed that Lacson and House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez have availed of the COVID-19 vaccine earlier this year.

Philippine officials have yet to approve any particular brand of COVID-19 vaccine for local use, but at least 3 international drug manufacturers have said their concoctions have high effectivity rates.

"If I had my inoculation, I’m still here talking to you and I don’t look ill naman. Let’s leave it at that. Let’s just talk of the needs of our people because we really need to vaccinate at least majority of our people," Lacson told ANC's Headstart anchor Karen Davila.

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Lawmakers are finalizing the 2021 budget, which will include allocation for economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and for vaccination of at least 60 percent of the population to achieve herd immunity.

Dominguez said the country will also tap multilateral agencies and bilateral negotiations to fund the vaccination program.