(CNN Philippines) Metro Manila — President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday asked for more COVID-19 vaccines from the United States, adding that the government is ready to pay for fresh supply.

“I am just asking America to give us more, kung mayroon lang sila (only if they have)… If there is an excess of supply, pakitulong naman dito sa bayan ko (please help my country),” he said during his late-night address on Monday.

“We have the money,” the President added. “We buy, we do not ask. We have saved money for this event.”

So far, the Philippines has received over 42 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, including more than three million doses of the Moderna vaccine donated by the U.S. through the COVAX facility.

China has also donated coronavirus doses to the country, including one million shots of Sinovac vaccine. The Asian superpower has committed to donate more to the Philippines, which it has done “with no strings attached,” according to Duterte.

Meanwhile, the chief executive reiterated his appeal to all Filipinos to get vaccinated to protect themselves from the virus as the country records more cases of the more transmissible variants.

“Itong virus na ito (This virus) will just circulate in the air for years, so itong (this) mask, limited social contacts natin nandiyan na iyan (will be always there),” Duterte said.

“The virus is here to stay and it will change your life at least forever until mawala ito (it disappears),” he also said. “And it will continue to claim lives.”

The Department of Health has recorded more cases of the dreaded Delta variant and the country’s first case of the Lambda variant.

READ: DOH: Pregnant woman from Western Visayas first Lambda variant case

Amid new fears on the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines against these variants, infectious disease expert Dr. Edsel Salvaña presented data on the matter, noting that all vaccines remain to be highly effective against contracting severe case of COVID-19 regardless of the variant.

However, efficacy decreases in preventing clinical disease — specifically when one gets infected by the Delta variant, Salvaña explained.

Meanwhile, there is only a slight decrease on the vaccine’s efficacy against the Lambda variant based on preliminary data, he added.