MANILA– President Rodrigo Duterte said today that, local government officials will be punished, for falling behind their targets for Covid-19 vaccinations, as the Philippines seeks to open up the economy.

The Philippines, which has one of Asia’s worst COVID-19 pandemics, has so far fully immunised a little over a third of 77 million people eligible for shots.

Duterte said, there was no reason why daily vaccinations could not be ramped up to at least a million, from an average of 500,000, since the country has sufficient stock of vaccines.

“We saw fault lines in the overall picture of our vaccination programme. I am not contented,” Duterte said, in a recorded address aired today.

Duterte said, local officials “who are not performing nor using the doses given to them, in a most expeditious manner” would be sanctioned and made accountable.

He did not spell out the penalties.

The government has gradually been easing Covid-19 curbs, and today, it announced it was lifting the nightly curfew, imposed in the capital region, from tomorrow.

Duterte asked the police and military to use planes and helicopters, to deliver the vaccines faster to the provinces.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK