Manila –
President Filipina, Rodrigo Duterte, ask China to retract 1,000 doses of vaccine corona virus (COVID-19) made by Sinopharm which he donated to his country. Duterte came up with this after he was criticized for receiving Sinopharm’s vaccine injection even though he had not received emergency use by Philippine regulators.
As reported Associated Press, Thursday (6/5/2021), Duterte was injected with the first dose Sinopharm vaccine on Monday (3/5) local time. In a livestreaming broadcast via Facebook, it appears that the Philippine Health Minister, Francisco Duque, injected the Sinopharm vaccine himself into the arm of the Philippine President.
A number of Philippine presidential guards – the exact number is unknown – have also been secretly injected with the Sinopharm vaccine.
Critics accuse Duterte of insulting vaccination rules as the Filipino public struggles with a series of Corona restrictions.
In a speech broadcast on local television on Wednesday evening (5/5) local time, Duterte responded to the criticism by apologizing but stressing that the use of the Sinopharm vaccine was recommended by his doctor.
Duterte also stressed that the use of the Sinopharm vaccine by himself and his bodyguards did not violate any rules because the vaccine had obtained ‘sympathetic use’ permission from regulators.
Local media reports, Manila Bulletin, confirmed that although the Sinopharm vaccine has not received emergency use permit from the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the agency has released a sympathetic use permit in favor of the Presidential Safeguard Group (PSG).
It was reported that a number of Duterte guards had received Sinopharm vaccine injections last February.
Watch the video ‘The moment President Duterte was injected with the Sinopharm vaccine’:
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