Marcos: PH eyes mid-year rollout of swine flu vaccines from Vietnam

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said Tuesday that vaccines for African swine flu would be rolled out in the Philippines in June or July this year.

During a town hall meeting in Occidental Mindoro, Marcos said the vaccines would come from Vietnam.

"Magro-roll out na noong bakuna, siguro, Hunyo, Hulyo, mailabas na namin. Dahil inaantay pa namin 'yung production noong bakuna sa Vietnam, doon tayo kumukuha. At sila nakapag-develop ng vaccine para sa swine flu," Marcos said.

(We will roll out the vaccine maybe towards June or July. We are waiting for the production of the vaccine in Vietnam. And they will develop the vaccine against swine flu.)

"Para matulungan ang livestock—ang mga livestock—ang mga growers ng livestock (This should benefit livestock and livestock growers)," the President added.

During Marcos' state visit to Vietnam last January, officials of the Department of Agriculture (DA) spoke with their counterparts about the availability of the vaccines, according to DA Undersecretary Roger Navarro.

In 2023, Vietnam exported two million vaccine doses against African swine fever to the Philippines after it had approved domestic use of the world's first commercial vaccines against the disease.

Last Monday, 57 hogs in Dauis, Bohol were found to have African swine fever.

In Cagayan province, 33 pigs in the towns of Peñablanca and Alcala were found to be infected with the disease last February.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. recently expressed intent to fast-track the local hog industry's recovery from the ill-effects of African swine fever. — VDV, GMA Integrated News