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The President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte said on Monday Oct. 11 that he will lead efforts to vaccinate people who refuse to take the Covid-19 vaccine by jabbing them in their sleep, Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.

Jab them in their sleep

The 76-year-old politician reportedly expressed his wish for the Covid-19 vaccination drive to be ramped up, in order to hit the target of vaccinating 50 per cent of the population by the end of the year. At the time of writing, vaccination rate in the Philippines is around 22 per cent.

He said he was confident that most, if not all, of the major cities in the Philippines will achieve the goal "before Christmas".

"The problem is those who don't want to get vaccinated. Look for them in your village, let's go there while they're asleep and inject them while asleep so we can get it done," Duterte said in his speech, CNN Philippines reported.

"I'll do it, I'll lead the journey," he added.

Took the blame for lack of vaccines

Meanwhile, the Department of Health has stated multiple times that Covid-19 vaccinations are not mandatory, and consent from individuals is required before administering the jab, according to CNN Philippines.

In the same speech, the president also admitted that the government had failed to find companies that could sell vaccines to them, which resulted in the country's lack of vaccines at the beginning of the year.

Not his first threat

In June, Duterte delivered an ultimatum to people who refused to get vaccinated, asking them to choose between jail time and the vaccine, according to Reuters.

He also called those who refused to be vaccinated "stupid people", and claimed that he would inject them with "a vaccine for pigs", Philippines Daily Inquirer reported.

"That will really kill (the virus), including you," the politician added.

As of Oct. 13, the Philippines has recorded over 2.6 million cases of Covid-19 infection and 39,896 deaths from the virus.

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Top image via Rody Duterte/Facebook