Thread by @cnnphilippines

THREAD: Presidential Spokesperson @attyharryroque holds a media briefing in Malacañang | LIVE bit.ly/2M2NEst

Tweets by our digital producers @pplmanuel and @lisbetesmael

Roque recaps the recent hearing of the Senate Committee of the Whole on the government's COVID-19 vaccination plan

Roque: Magkakaroon po ng legal na pananagutan ang drug companies 'pag nagbenta sila ng bakuna for commercial use kahit Emergency Use Authorization use pa lamang meron sila

Roque reiterates government is not favoring Sinovac or any particular vaccine: Dahil napakataas po ng demand, gagamitin natin kung ano ang available bit.ly/3ilBSFM

Roque: Kung gusto mo makakuha ng supply, dapat bultuhan ang order mo. Halos lahat ng bansa centralized ang purchasing. Wala pa tayong alam na pribadong kumpanya na bumibili dahil hindi pa pwede

Roque reminds COVID-19 vaccination is not mandatory: Mismo ang Presidente ang nagsabi: wala pong pilitan

Roque denies that the agreement to procure 25M Sinovac doses is not yet a 'done deal': Kontrata na iyan. That is already a binding obligation

Roque: Sa pagbili ng bakuna, dadaan ito sa multilateral arrangements with fund managers tulad ng ADB, World Bank

Roque says through tripartite agreements, gov't aims to secure doses for LGUs, private companies in lowest possible prices through negotiations

Roque on Sinovac vaccine price: Kapag nabayaran na, obligado nang sabihin kung magkano talaga ang nabayaran. Ngayon ang napirmahan ay term sheet, isa din iyang kontrata to sell and buy. Pero ang kondisyon ay kailangan ma-approve ng FDA, among others

Roque on 17M doses from AstraZeneca: 2.5M doses were ordered by the private sector, due for delivery this May; 14.5M doses were ordered by 39 LGUs and 300 companies to be delivered Q3 or Q4 2021

Roque reminds only American firm Pfizer has successfully secured an Emergency Use Authorization from the Food and Drug Administration bit.ly/2LXi7Zg

Meanwhile, AstraZeneca, Sinovac and Gamaleya have already submitted applications for EUA

Roque: Supply at demand: kung ano ang napatunayang ligtas, epektibo, ito ang gagamitin natin. Nais nating maligtas ang ating mga kababayan sa madaling panahon

Roque reiterates inoculation in the Philippines will only start if the vaccine has secured emergency use authorization from the FDA

Roque on China Foreign Minster Wang Yi's recent PH visit: The President has emphasized the need to strengthen PH, China's cooperation on public health matters

Roque: Sinabi ni Minister Wang Yi magdodonate ang China ng 500,000 doses ng vaccine sa bansa bit.ly/2XNTbWu

Roque says Foreign Minister Wang Yi vows China will continue to support Duterte administration's infrastructure program

Roque takes a jab at Vice Ganda: Dahil sa limitadong supply ng bakuna, hindi tayo makakapili mula sa isa o dalawang brand. Mali na ikumpara ang bakuna sa sabon na panlaba... Kung hindi pagkakatiwalaan ang experts, sino ang ating pagkakatiwalaan? Siguro hindi mga komedyante

Comedian Vice Ganda reacted to Roque's comment last week that Filipinos cannot be choosy when it comes to vaccine brands

https://twitter.com/vicegandako/status/1348897789317574661

Roque announces the modification of import duty rates on certain agri products as stated in Executive Order No. 123

Roque: Patuloy ang kumpyansa sa ekonomiya natin, pinatutunayan ito ng malakas na pagsara ng piso. Nung Biyernes, nagsara ang piso sa ₱48.065 = $1

Roque: Bagama't may mga nagsasabing 'di maganda ang paglakas ng piso dahil magmamahal ang exports, patunay po ito sa maraming nagku-kumpyansa sa ekonomiya

Roque on PH COVID-19 cases breaching 500K mark: 'Wag naman po tayong mag-alala dahil ang aktibong mga kaso dito ay 24,691 lamang at maski 500,000 na ang kaso natin, ang position po natin worldwide ay nasa 32nd place with most number of cases

https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines/status/1350727793932333058

Roque: Bumaba din ang available ventilators dahil sa inasahan nating [post-holiday] spike

Roque on healthcare utilization rates per region: Wala pang rehiyon na nasa moderate risk, bagamat malapit na po ang Region XI

Roque: Ang hudyat sa pagbabago ng quarantine classification ay 'pag nasa danger level na po tayo

Infectious diseases specialist Dr. Rontgene Solante on vaccine development: Ang pag-develop ng bakuna, dadaan 'yan sa proseso. Yung pinakamabigat dito ay preclinical study, binibigay pa lang ito sa animals, titignan kung magpoproduce sila ng antibodies, may major side effects ba

Dr. Solante says should a vaccine pass preclinical study, it will then be tested on humans under clinical trials, which come in different phases

Dr. Solante on minimum 50% efficacy rate for vaccines: The WHO determines this threshold, this is based on the percentage of people needed to be vaccinated to control the pandemic, they use mathematical models to compute this

Dr. Solante on differences in Sinovac's efficacy rate: Yung efficacy rate is not always consistent with any population

Dr. Solante says a vaccine's efficacy rate also depends on the makeup of the population it will be administered to

Dr. Solante: Depende rin sa target population na babakunahan. If you are vaccinating 50 years old and below, you will expect higher efficacy rate

Dr. Solante on 29 deaths in Norway linked to Pfizer vaccines: Kailangan nila imbestigahan iyan. If you look at other countries using Pfizer, wala namang namamatay. It's unique in Norway

Dr. Solante says authorities must review whether the deaths are linked to the vaccine or there were some pre-existing factors like comorbidities in concerned patients

Dr. Solante on vaccine efficacy rates: Hihimayin din natin aside from the prevention of infection ang prevention of severe disease

Dr. Solante says studies of vaccines under review in PH point to these vaccines not being affected by the new coronavirus variant so far: It's still impossible it can, but less likely. Still, we have to monitor individuals being vaccinated

Dr. Solante says ethnicity of clinical trial participants also important in reviewing vaccine efficacy

Dr. Solante: So far sa analysis nila sa spike rate sa UK, it seems hindi pa apektado ang bakuna. It still produces the same number of antibodies expected to be produced by a vaccine

Dr. Solante: The presence of comorbidities will make us prioritize these individuals more, they're more prone to getting serious cases

Dr. Solante says so far, clinical trials reveal Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca are safe to be given across all ages

Dr. Solante: Among the three, they can not really proceed to phase 3 if they're not safe. Sa ngayon, all of these vaccines are safe to be given regardless of age

DOH: We urge the public to trust and respect the process that the country, through vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez, is undertaking to ensure that Filipinos are afforded the best vaccines at the most ideal prices

Roque on remark about Filipinos preferring brands like Pfizer having 'colonial mentality': Pasensya na po kayo, ako nama'y kilala bilang spokesperson na diretso magsalita, katotohanan lamang (1/2)

Roque on remark about Filipinos preferring brands like Pfizer having 'colonial mentality': Ang katotohanan po, yung iba sa atin, lalo na kritiko ng gobyerno, tinitignan lang kung saan galing ang bakuna (2/2)

Roque: Hindi dapat tinitignan saan gawa ang bakuna. Ang dapat na tinitignan natin ay kung ito ay ligtas at epektibo, kahit saan pa sila gawa

Roque on Sinovac price: Ang sabi ni Sec. Galvez, mahigit kumulang kapresyo ng sa Indonesia, mahigit kumulang ₱650 per dose, hindi lalagpas ng ₱700. Iyan ang presyong BFF bit.ly/3oP6emB

Roque on duration of community quarantine: Depende po 'yan sa datos, analytics po ang sinusundan natin. Matagal ko na pong sinangguni, at inaprubahan naman ng IATF, na magkaroon ng new normal classifications para sa mga lugar na matagal nang walang transmission

Roque says the new normal classification has been approved "in principle," but guidelines like do's and don'ts are still being formulated bit.ly/3iz08EN

Roque says President Duterte will address the nation tonight

Roque on postponement of Anti-Terror Law oral arguments: Sa panahon ng pandemya, walang magsisinungaling na sila'y nagka-COVID o exposure sa COVID bit.ly/38VsLsx

Roque: 50-70M ang target nating mga magbabakuna, mas marami ang kakailangan natin sa pagbabakuna

Roque on President Duterte and Chinese Foreign Minister Yi's discussions: Wala po ako dun, perhaps DFA Sec. Locsin can tell you about the atmosphere [then], I only have the press release and transcript

Roque: It must have been very cordial dahil nagkaroon tayo ng donasyon, commitment to do projects bit.ly/3nScecX

Roque on VP Robredo's suggestion to vaccinate Pres. Duterte first against COVID-19 to increase vaccine confidence: 'Yan po ay sinasangguni naman na, ang Presidente po paiba-iba ang kanyang prayoridad sa Talk to the People, hayaan po natin siyang magdesisyon

Roque on 29 deaths in Norway linked to Pfizer vaccine: Kailangan muna pag-aralan 'yan kung dahil ba ito sa Pfizer, 'wag po muna tayo mag-conclude

RELATED: The Food and Drug Administration hopes reports of deaths among the elderly in Norway after receiving COVID-19 vaccine shots will not worsen Filipinos' vaccine hesitancy, its chief says bit.ly/3oWi6TK

Roque on vaccine usage: Meron po tayong cost-benefit analysis, na the benefits outweigh the costs

Roque clarifies: Yung sinabi kong paiba-iba ang priorities ng Presidente, that's so far as his messaging in his public addresses is concerned

Has the President decided to get himself vaccinated first to boost public confidence?

Roque asks the public to wait for Duterte's final decision on the matter

Roque says Filipinos who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 abroad still need to undergo quarantine for 14 days

Roque on Filipinos' vaccine confidence: Talagang sa una, mababa po 'yan. In the first place, 'di naman natin inaasahang magkakakumpyansa lahat agad, titignan muna nila kung ano mangyayari sa mauuna [magpa-bakuna], kung wala namang namatay, bumababa ang mga kaso

Roque: Kaya po inuuna ang mga senior citizen, dahil alam nating mas malala ang tama [ng COVID-19] 'pag tinamaan sila

Roque assures country has sufficient facilities to store initial supply of Pfizer vaccines

Roque on plans for Duterte's inoculation: That is solely between him and his doctor

Roque on reports of Chinese POGO workers getting vaccinated against COVID-19: The NBI and FDA are already investigating this, let's await the results of their investigation

Roque says PH still pushing through with plans to buy vaccines from other manufacturers despite China's promise to donate 500,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses bit.ly/3iqAkKW

Roque on Biden presidency's effect on PH-US security relations: Ang masasabi lang natin diyan, pagdating sa panlabas na relasyon, may continuity naman ang US

Roque: Inanunsyo ngayon pa lang ni US President-elect @JoeBiden magpopropose siya ng batas to legalize the stay of 11 million illegal aliens in the US, may mga Pilipinong makikinabang rito

Roque on Sinovac price: Alam namin na ang market price sa Tsina will not be the price na bibilhin natin pagkatapos ng government-to-government negotiation

Roque says Public Services Act reform not among bills prioritized by the President: But I could be wrong, I'll double check and confirm tomorrow

Roque says the CREATE bill has been certified as urgent by the President bit.ly/3oU5gFR

Roque: Pag-ingatan natin sino pakikinggan natin. Uulitin ko po: ang proseso para maging expert, kailangan pakita kung may specialized kang inaral para maging expert, may karanasan ka ba sa field na 'yun