‘Go To India’: Philippines President Threatens Citizens Who Refuse COVID Vaccines

New Delhi: The Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has courted controversy by threatening citizens who refuse to get vaccinated to “go to India”.

In a pre-recorded televised public address, Duterte voiced his exasperation at people not plying with COIVD-19 rules and not taking vaccines. “If you won’t get vaccinated, leave the Philippines. Go to India or somewhere, to America. But as long as you are here and you are a human being that can carry the virus, get yourself vaccinated,” Inquirer.net quoted the President as saying.

“Don`t get me wrong, there is a crisis in this country. I`m just exasperated by Filipinos not heeding the government,” he added.

He further threatened citizens who refuse to get vaccinated to be injected with the anti-parasitic drug Ivermectin that is used to treat animals.

“I will order all the village captains to have a tally of the people who refuse to be vaccinated. Because if not, I will have Ivermectin meant for pigs injected into you,” he said.

The Philippines’ Department of Health (DOH) reported that the country registered 4,353 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday. The total number of confirmed cases in the Philippines is 1,372,232, according to news agency ANI.