Thread by @cnnphilippines

THREAD: Presidential Spokesperson @attyharryroque holds a media briefing in Malacañang | LIVE bit.ly/2K3D1oX

Tweets by our digital producers @pilarmanuel_ and @gleefjalea

Roque: Ayon sa DOH, magkakaroon na tayo ng unang 25M doses of COVID-19 vaccine from Sinovac, darating ito sa susunod na buwan

Roque says the first 50,000 doses of the said 25M doses will arrive in February

Roque says Turkey itself ordered 3 million doses of Sinovac, while Thailand will be getting 2 million shots of the said vaccine

Roque defends Sinovac: Ang mga kalaban ng gobyerno, walang tigil sa reklamo. Dati-rati walang bakuna, ngayong merong bakuna, sasabihing 'ay, walang ligtas.'

Roque says Indonesia will be getting 125.5 million doses of CoronaVac for its mass vaccination efforts

Roque on criticisms on govt's vaccination plan: Sa mga kalaban ng gobyerno, manahimik na kayo. 'Pag nag-survey ulit, puputok na naman iyan sa mukha niyo, kulelat na naman kayo, failure na naman kayo

Roque says inoculation of Sinovac in other countries proves the safety and efficacy of the vaccine

Roque says 30 million doses of Covovax will be available starting the third quarter of 2021 bit.ly/3q5Klj8

Roque: Sa mga may colonial mentality na gusto ang Pfizer, pwede naman kayo maghintay

Roque says NCR, CAR, Regions XI and IV-A have been identified as priority areas for vaccination

Roque: Ang unang tranche ng bakuna ay para sa healthcare workers sa mga rehiyon na ito, uubusin muna ito bago bakunahan ang susunod na grupo

Roque reiterates the priority population for COVID-19 vaccine

Under the country's vaccination roadmap, indigent senior citizens come after healthcare workers. Remaining senior citizens, indigent population and uniformed personnel follow

Roque: Sa mga naa-atat, ambagal daw ng Pebrero, gitna na ng Enero ngayon, parang kahapon lang nagno-Noche Buena tayo

Roque says according to @WHO, 42 countries have already rolled out safe, effective COVID-19 vaccines

Roque: Minsan sinasabi ko nga, yung mga komentarista, sila magpatakbo ng gobyerno, tignan natin ano mangyari

Roque reiterates Austria's inclusion in the Philippines' travel ban due to the new coronavirus variant discovered in the UK bit.ly/2K0S7eG

Roque on crowd of Black Nazarene devotees: Ngayong tapos na, pakinggan naman po natin ang DOH: bantayan po ang inyong mga sarili sa mga sintomas ng COVID-19

Roque reiterates DOH's reminder to self-isolate once COVID-19 symptoms are present following Traslacion, avoid contact with other people as much as possible

https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines/status/1347913267436347394

Roque on crowd of Black Nazarene devotees: Ngayong tapos na, pakinggan naman po natin ang DOH: bantayan po ang inyong mga sarili sa mga sintomas ng COVID-19

Roque proudly says that the country's ranking among countries with COVID cases has gone down from 20th place last October to 31st place as of today

Roque says there are still 63% isolation beds, 74% available ward beds, and 80% available ventilators in the country

Faberco Life Sciences Medical Director Dr. Luningning Villa on Covovax vaccine: We're happy to share, confirm the term sheet on the supply of 30M doses ay napirmahan na. Ibig sabihin nito, magkaka-commitment na to supply these doses ang Serum Institute (of India)

Faberco Life Sciences is the Philippine partner of Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer. SII has earlier partnered with American biotechnology firm Novavax in the development, commercialization of the Covovax vaccine

Dr. Villa: Ang Faberco ang magiging coordinator to ensure the Covovax vaccines are received properly in the Philippines

Dr. Villa on Covovax vaccine: Its antigen is the recombinant coronavirus spike (S) protein nanoparticle

Dr. Villa says Covovax vaccine has a Novavax-patented unit used when generating effective vaccines

Dr. Villa says the vaccine's MATRIX-M Adjuvant stimulates strong responses, improves immune responses: Nagiging robust ang response ng immune system with the adjuvant

Dr. Villa says no serious adverse events have been reported in Australia's phase 1 trial on the Covovax vaccine

Dr. Villa says Covovax is also being evaluated for safety and immunogenicity in HIV-positive patients

Dr. Villa on phase 2B clinical trial in South Africa: On HIV-positive adults, tinitignan din if magiging efficacious ang vaccine sa kanila

Dr. Villa reiterates the Covovax vaccine can be stored at 2°C to 8°C, allowing for distribution using the country's standard cold chain system for vaccines

Dr. Villa says assuming positive findings on Covovax, it may be approved for human use by the 2nd quarter of 2021 and deliveries may be done by the third quarter of 2021

Dr. Villa: We hope to have an emergency use authorization (EUA) first in the UK, kasi mauuna silang matatatapos sa clinical trial

Dr. Villa on 30M Covovax doses for PH: Within July, August, September, magsisimula ang delivery ng doses.

Dr. Villa says the delivery will take at most 5-6 months

Roque on VP @lenirobredo's recommendation to set a proper communication plan regarding the country's vaccination: Iyong suhestyon niyo po, Madam Vice President, ginagawa na po ng gobyerno

In her radio show yesterday, VP Leni Robredo said aside from the vaccine rollout, the country must also prepare a proper communication plan to address the Filipinos' hesitancy in receiving vaccines

Roque responds to a reporter's observation of his excessive promotion of Sinovac like a 'salesman': Alam mo, ng strategic communication is not just giving information, it's also telling the truth. That's what I do

Roque on Sinovac: It came from clinical trials in Turkey, Indonesia and the UAE leader has already gotten vaccinated with it

Was something done to speed up Sinovac's arrival in PH?

Roque: My official answer is I don't know, but the President did say, 'Hindi ako makakahintay until July... Kung ako naiinip, lalo na ang ordinaryong Pilipino'

Roque: So hindi ko alam ano ginawa ng Presidente para mapabilis ang pagdating nito (Sinovac)

Roque on Duterte's preference for China and Russia's vaccine: Si Presidente po malinaw, gusto niyang maturok agad, gusto niya Tsino o Russia, pero kailangan niyang mamili

Roque on arrival of vaccines ordered by LGUs: Ito po'y patuloy na pinag-uusapan ng IATF, pero malinaw na dapat sumunod ang LGUs sa vaccination priorities ng IATF

Roque on LGUs' move to secure doses from Astrazeneca: AstraZeneca is not coming in February. We expect June or July

Roque reiterates no LGU can purchase vaccines without the national government's signature: G-to-G (government-to-government) po ang lahat ng bentahan ng bakuna, 'wag niyo po isiping ginagawa na ng LGUs ang dapat ginagawa ng national government. Kaya nga po tripartite agreement

Roque warns LGUs: Pwede ba namang hindi sila sumunod sa tripartite agreement? Kapag hindi, magkakaroon ng pananagutan ang mga sumuway sa tripartite agreement

Roque on dismissed police officer Jonel Nuezca: Kailangan patunayan ang pagkakasala niya beyond reasonable doubt

Nuezca, who fatally shot his neighbors Sonya and Frank Anthony Gregorio in Tarlac in December last year, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges filed against him

https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines/status/1348216960140541954

RELATED: Police Staff Sergeant Jonel Nuezca has been dismissed from service effective today, PNP Chief Gen. Debold Sinas says bit.ly/3hZ5Orj

Dr. Villa on vaccine research: Ang practice po natin, 'pag peer-reviewed ang isang publication, mas nare-raise ang confidence level among the population, health professionals

Roque on extension of travel ban: Sang-ayon sa policy ng IATF at inissue ng Presidente through the Executive Secretary, hihintayin niya ang joint recommendation ng DOH at DFA

Roque says reports of Chinese POGO workers in PH already getting vaccinated have not yet confirmed, asks public to await results of NBI's investigation

Roque on reported smuggling of vaccines: There is an investigative agency, let the investigation proceed

Roque on govt's suppposed preference for Sinovac: Yun ang vaccine na una nating nakuha, at ang Western brands, na lantad ang colonial mentality sa mga Pilipino, July pa natin makukuha earliest

Roque defends Sinovac anew: There's nothing spectacular about Sinovac other than it's been proven safe and efficient

Would PH have had more funds for COVID-19 vaccines if corruption was eliminated, particularly in PhilHealth?

Roque: 'Wag na tayo mag-speculate. As per WHO, 42 countries have rolled out safe vaccines, 36 are high-income and 6 are middle-income... developing country pa lamang tayo

Roque: Developing country pa lamang tayo lalo't tumama pa ang pandemic

Roque says he still could not confirm the appointment of former Mandaluyong mayor Benhur Abalos as new MMDA chief since he does not have the appointment papers yet, despite Sen. Go’s announcement yesterday bit.ly/3s8ui69

Dr. Villa of Faberco Life Sciences says they could not yet disclose how much money was used to secure deals with Indian-made Novovax vaccine

Roque says he will get an updated list of LGUs that have secured AstraZeneca doses from vaccine czar Carlito Galvez after the Senate hearing

Roque on PH ranking 9th worldwide in terms of worst traffic in recent report: Siguro po bababa na ang ranking natin, dinaanan ko ang (NLEx-SLEx) connector, napakaganda po

Roque: Before that, 'pag umuuwi ako pa-Metro Manila mula Baguio, dinadaanan ko ang (NLEx) Harbor Link (segment) 'pag dumidiretso ako Malacañang

Roque: Excited po ako, napakaganda ng proyektong 'yan. Maraming salamat sa ating private sector partner, San Miguel Corporation, for this new project. If only for these two projects, pati ang CAVITEX project ng Pangilinan group of companies, mawawala po tayo sa top 10

Roque: Pero ang solusyon syempre sa traffic, improve infrastructure, public transportation at ang marami naman na pong binabalak na. Yung first subway, underway na sa Makati, pati ang LRT, MRT extensions

Roque says there will be a full Cabinet meeting tonight, while President Duterte's public address will be on Wednesday

Roque on Sinovac: We expect that it will be paid for. But maybe China will donate some of it, because the Chinese Foreign Minister is coming. After all, we have very close relations with China

Roque says gov't may either wait for an emergency use authorization before administering Sinovac, or accept delivery and wait for the approval of authorities

Roque on Duterte's supposed appeal to renew Cha-Cha talks to get rid of Makabayan bloc: What I do know is the President has always maintained that the Makabayan bloc is in conspiracy with the CPP-NPA

RELATED: The revival of debates on charter change in both chambers of Congress is being used as a "smokescreen" to keep the Duterte administration in power, a Makabayan lawmaker said bit.ly/3q0nndg

Roque on Cha-Cha criticisms: Bagamat ang initiative sa pag-amyenda ng Saligang-Batas ay hurisdiksyon ng Kongreso, 'di nagbabago ang paninindigan ng Presidente na 'di siya mananatili sa kanyang pwesto beyond June 30, 2022

Roque: Mukhang ang figures po, nagpapakita na tumaas talaga [COVID-19 cases] so hindi natin makakailang nagka-holiday surge tayo, nag-1,900 cases tayo kahapon, highest in three weeks if I'm not mistaken

https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines/status/1348177984230854656

Roque: Tingin ko naman po, magiging manageable ang pagtaas dahil kaya nating gamutin ang magkakasakit nang seryoso, 60% pa po ang available ICU units, isolation at hospital beds, ang ward beds nga po, malaki [availability]

Can Filipinos choose what vaccine they should receive?

Roque: Wala pong pilian, wala pong sapilitan. Pero magsa-sign ka ng waiver na hindi ka nagpaturok

Roque asks the public to exercise care, especially now that COVID-19 vaccines are slated to arrive in the country soon

Roque: Nandiyan na ang bakuna, 'wag naman sana ngayon pa tayo magkaka-COVID

Roque on proposal of lawmakers to just amend the party-list law instead of the constitution: We defer to the wisdom of Congress. Hindi naman po naglelegislate ang Presidente