Palace clarifies Duterte's old statement on COVID-19 booster shots

The Palace has clarified an old video of President Rodrigo Duterte discouraging COVID-19 booster shots, stating it was released when the government's priority was to fully vaccinate the population.

Acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles explained that the video from September 2021 should be viewed in the proper context.

At the time the video was recorded, only 21 million Filipinos were fully vaccinated, and the provision of booster shots had not yet been approved.

President Duterte had advised the public in the video to not exceed two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Booster doses were only approved in November 2021 when the country had an ample vaccine supply and a substantial vaccination coverage.

Later, in December 2021, President Duterte encouraged the public to get their booster shots to combat the spread of the Omicron variant.