DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 06 July) – None of those who have received the anti-COVID-19 vaccines has become a “zombie,” Mayor Sara Duterte on Tuesday said, assuring residents the vaccines are safe and effective against the deadly virus.
During her program over Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR 87.5), Duterte said she was aware of the so-called conspiracy theories being circulated on social media to frighten the public about getting the vaccines.
She urged the public to ignore the misinformation about the vaccination, and instead educate themselves about it.
“Several Dabawenyos have already received the vaccines, and they are okay. We have not seen anyone nor have we captured a ‘zombie’. We encourage everyone to get vaccinated because we really need to achieve that percentage of immunity among our people so that we can open our city immediately,” she said.
The city targets to vaccinate 1.2 million residents to achieve “herd immunity.” As of July 4, the Davao City Vaccination Cluster reported that a total of 248,283 individuals have so far received the first dose and 52,038 have been fully vaccinated.
She dared those spreading false information to have themselves vaccinated if no one turns into a “zombie” by September this year due to the vaccine.
“When September comes around and we don’t turn into ‘zombies,’ those who believe that we will become zombies should have themselves inoculated… Otherwise, if you cannot guarantee, you should not campaign against it because you will lose your credibility,” she said.
Duterte also addressed rumors that the vaccination is an effort to depopulate the country.
“As I said, it’s impossible that all governments around the world will agree on depopulation – killing their own citizens with this vaccine. That is absurd, and I think it’s very impossible that all presidents and prime ministers will agree on that,” she said.
She told residents to delineate their “faith from science” to solve the COVID-19 crisis, saying the two are mutually exclusive.
“Dabawenyos should know that science and faith are not compatible because there is no ‘science’ to faith. It is purely your acceptance that there is a ‘supreme being’ out there, who is controlling everything that is happening in our world. There is no scientific research to prove it,” she said.
Duterte said addressing the pandemic must be science-based.
She commended the Roman Catholic church for advocating in favor of vaccination and for offering their facilities as vaccination hubs.
Pope Francis himself has been vaccinated against the virus, (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)
