President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday said he already has the funds to procure COVID-19 vaccines once these become commercially available.
Without giving details as to how much money is readily available, Duterte said he is looking for additional funds to "ideally" vaccinate all 113 million Filipinos.
"I have already sourced money. I have money already for the vaccine. But I need more to provide 113 million Filipinos vaccination," he said.
"Ideally all should have the vaccine, without exemption," the President added.
He said indigents who are covered by the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program will be the first to be vaccinated, along with members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police.
"Those in the Pantawid will get the vaccine first. The AFP and PNP will also be part of the first batch because I need our military and police to be healthy. They are really vital to security of the state," he said.
"Us civilians, we could be the last in line," he added.
But the President quickly said he is willing to be the first to get the shot to prove to the public that the vaccines from either Russia or China, which he said may be commercially available by April, are safe.
"It's either China or Russia — I'm already okay with that. Pfizer, Moderna, the Western firms, those from the US are also okay. They are using the same protocols and the same samples anyway," the President said.
