"Why is the vaccination rollout slow? At the national level, it’s okay. The problem is in the provincial and regional level," he was quoted as saying in a public address by the state-run news agency PNA.
The national coronavirus task force announced last week that it had received over 108 million vaccine doses since February and the supply had been steady, but Duterte said he was "not content" with how the campaign progressed.
"I … ordered [Interior Secretary Eduardo] Ano to impose the necessary sanction against local government units and local chief executives who are not performing nor using the doses given to them in the most expeditious manner," he said.
The Southeast Asian archipelago nation of 109 million has fully vaccinated about a quarter of its population, administering over 60 million vaccine doses since the vaccination drive began in March.