President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to jail people who refuse to be vaccinated against the Coronavirus as the Philippines battles one of Asia’s worst outbreaks, with over 1.3 million cases and more than 23,000 deaths.
“You choose, vaccine or I will have you jailed,” President Duterte mention On Monday in a broadcast address following reports of low turnouts at several vaccination sites in the capital Manila.
“Don’t get me wrong, there is a crisis in this country,” Duterte said. “I’m just frustrated by Filipinos not heeding the government.”
As of June 20, Philippine authorities had fully vaccinated 2.1 million people, making slow progress towards the government’s target to immunize up to 70 million people this year in a country of 110 million.
Duterte, who has been criticized for his tough approach to containing the virus, also stood by his decision not to let schools reopen.