“Lot of people” in Philippines get Sinopharm vaccine – Duterte

December 27, 2020

President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday said that a lot of people have already received COVID-19 vaccine from China’s Sinopharm even though it is not yet approved in the country.

“I have to be frank and I have to tell the truth. I will not foist a lie. A lot of people were vaccinated… For the select few --- not all soldiers, not all soldiers, it’s not yet a policy,” Duterte said during his emergency meeting in Malacañang.

“If it's a policy now to have them injected with... But I want them to be the first ones because I do not want a sickly Armed Forces and a sickly police. The reason why is that they have to be in good health all the time because they are responsible for the law and order of this country,” he added.

Duterte defended Sinopharm, saying it will not be used in China if it is deleterious to its citizens.

“They would not even attempt to inject one person. But there are a lot. And I will say to you, a lot of people here were injected by Sinopharm,” he said.

But according to Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) Director-General Eric Domingo, they already conducted three raids in Makati City and Binondo, Manila but they have not caught anyone.

Last December 15, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno ordered an investigation over the reported COVID-19 vaccination activity in Binondo, Manila.

It can be recalled that Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque denied that he received a vaccine from Sinopharm.

In the same meeting, National Task Force Against COVID-19 Chief Implementer and Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the government may start inoculation for COVID-19 in May next year at the earliest, as it secures substantial vaccine doses intended for the government and the private sector.

Galvez said they are working to secure 20 million and 10 million doses for the government and private sector, respectively.

He said the government might have contracts with Novavax Inc. and Pfizer Inc. by January. It also has an initial arrangement for 20 million doses with Moderna.

“So all in all...if we will get Novavax, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, J&J, and also Moderna, we might have more or less 80 million doses. And also recently, Gamaleya of Russia also negotiated for another 25 million,” he told the President.

Currently, Philippine authorities are asking Gamaleya for its third phase clinical trial information, Galvez said, hoping to secure a deal with the Russian vaccine maker also by January at the earliest.

Multilateral financial institutions such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank will finance the country’s vaccine procurements as well as other local banks. Ella Dionisio/DMS