Philippines considering importing three COVID-19 vaccines from China

The Philippines is considering procuring three COVID-19 vaccines from China, including the one made by Sinopharm even as clinical trials for it were temporarily suspended in Peru after detecting neurological problems in one test volunteer.

In a virtual briefing with presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Monday, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the country is looking at importing three vaccines from China -- Sinovac, Sinopharm, and CanSino.

"Yes, actually 'yung Cansino kasama sa [kino-consider] natin 'yan, dahil kasi magkakaroon rin sila ng clinical trial. Ang pinaka-ano kasi, 'yung pinaka-advance na nag-submit ng kanilang clinical trials, 'yung Sinovac and I think 'yung Sinopharm, we need to require them to submit 'yung mga requirements," he said.

Over a million people have already taken Sinopharm in emergency use, the experimental vaccine developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group, and has been approved in other countries such as Bahrain.

In Peru, however, clinical trials were temporarily suspended after neurological problems were detected in one of the test volunteers, which could correspond to a condition called Guillain-Barre syndrome.

For his part, Philippine Ambassador to China Jose Santiago Sta. Romana said talks are already ongoing with Sinopharm for the possible procurement.

"The Embassy is in touch with Sinopharm. We've been having contacts with them and our work really is to facilitate 'yung contact between 'yung Sinopharm and IATF, as well as the health authorities, and we will certainly do this," he said.

"We will tell them what the requirements are and we'll urge them to submit them as soon as possible," he added.

Responding to the concerns on other countries, Sta. Romana said that there is still no proven correlation between the Sinopharm vaccine and the reported side effects.

"The question is is it related to the vaccine or not and I think at this point, that has still yet to be determined, so I view it as a suspension and not a cancelation and we have to await the conclusion of the inquiry," he said. —KBK, GMA News