MANILA, Philippines — A video clip of President Rodrigo Duterte saying that two doses of COVID-19 vaccine were sufficient was recorded last year, at a time when the government’s priority was to increase the number of fully-vaccinated Filipinos, Malacañang clarified.
CLAIM: A video circulating on social media shows the president saying not to get more than two COVID-19 vaccine doses as it could pose risks.
RATING: This is misleading.
FACTS:
What the post said
Facebook page “CCTV Around the World” posted on January 23 a video where President Rodrigo Duterte told the public not to get more than two doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Initially, the post had a caption that stated “Duterte says more than 2 doses of COVID-19 Vaccines are ‘BAD’ for anyone.”
“Tama na ‘yang dalawang doses. ‘Wag ninyong sobrahan, delikado,” Duterte said in the video.
The caption was edited on January 25 and included the clarification of Malacañang about the video clip.
What the post left out
The original caption of the post did not indicate that the clip came from Duterte’s public address recorded on September 30, 2021. At the time, booster shots were not yet approved in the country.
The Department of Health began the administration of booster shots in mid-November, but only to healthcare workers. Boosters were then rolled out to senior citizens and additional doses were given to people with comorbidities in the same month. In December, the general adult populations were allowed to receive booster doses.
In the same speech, Duterte said that getting “multiple” doses deprives other people who have yet to receive their first dose.
In a statement Monday, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said the video should be viewed in the proper context.
“At that point, 21 million of our countrymen were fully vaccinated, and our priority was to increase this number, which is why the provision of booster shots had yet to be approved,” Nograles said.
“The situation today is now vastly different,” he added.
The chief executive has since urged the public to get their booster shots. On December 21, Duterte encouraged Filipinos to “take advantage” of the country’s sufficient vaccine supply and get their booster shots to help control the spread of the hyper-contagious Omicron variant.
Earlier this month, Malacañang said that Duterte got a Sinopharm booster shot. It was the same brand that he received for his primary series.
However, Duterte’s remark in the same video that dead virus from COVID-19 vaccines could be resurrected is incorrect. According to the World Health Organization, viruses in inactivated jabs—which use the dead version of the virus that causes COVID-19—are killed using chemicals, heat or radiation.
Essential context
The video clip is being shared and utilized by some groups to campaign against the administration of COVID-19 booster shots.
Authorities have been urging fully-vaccinated Filipinos to get booster shots, which provide additional protection against the virus. COVID-19 jabs, regardless of brand, remain safe and effective in preventing the worst outcomes of infections: severe illness and death.
Since March last year, over 53.3 million people have completed vaccination against COVID-19, while 58 million have received partial protection. More than 3.8 million people have gotten booster shots.
A survey of the Social Weather Stations released last week suggested that vaccine hesitancy among adult Filipinos was shrinking, with only 8% of respondents saying they did not want to get immunized against COVID-19.
Why does it matter?
A Philstar.com reader sent the claim for verification.
Although Malacañang issued a statement explaining the context of the clip on Monday, the video remains up on January 25. It has gained around 4,800 reactions, 3,400 comments and 206,000 views.
We fact-checked the claim because it may discourage people from getting life-saving vaccines and compromise efforts to control the spread of the virus that has so far killed 53,519 people in the country. — reviewed by Kristine Joy Patag
--
This story is part of the Philippine Fact-check Incubator, an Internews initiative to build the fact-checking capacity of news organizations in the Philippines and encourage participation in global fact-checking efforts.
Want to know more about our fact-checking initiative? Check our FAQs here.
Have a claim you want fact-checked? Reach out to us at factcheck@philstar.com.