Sinopharm dose used on Duterte part of China donation —Palace

The Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine that President Rodrigo Duterte received on Monday night was part of the batch donated by the Chinese government, Malacañang said Tuesday.

"It forms part of the 1,000 doses of Sinopharm donated by China," presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said at a press briefing. "These are not smuggled."

"They (China) also gave testing kits, masks, PPEs (Personal Protective Equipment), ventilators and face shields," he added.

Roque, however, said he has no information on when the vaccine arrived in the country.

He was responding to queries from reporters on why the President took the Sinopharm vaccine even if it has yet to secure an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) — an approval tantamount to FDA guaranteeing the vaccine's safety and efficacy.

Roque said the FDA has issued a compassionate use permit for the legal administration of the 10,000 doses of Sinopharm in the country, which include the 1,000 doses donated by the Chinese government.

"Wala pong nalabag na batas. Hindi po ilegal ito [no law was violated, this is not illegal]," Roque said of Duterte receiving a Sinopharm jab.

Roque also echoed the statement of Senator Bong Go that the President took Sinopharm based on the prescription of his physician, and that the President did not feel side effects.

"I was not privy with the President’s conversation with his doctors. But I understand his choice was guided also by his doctors. The President officially said that he opted for this brand upon advice of his doctor, and I will leave it at that," Roque said.

"In terms of adverse reaction, I did not see any adverse reaction because after he got vaccinated, he immediately went to our meeting," he added.

As this developed, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo also announced that he got inoculated with Sinopharm on Tuesday.

Duterte revealed in December last year that members of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) were already inoculated with Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine. At that time, Sinopharm has yet to secure compassionate use permit for its vaccine from the FDA.

PSG chief Jesus Durante III later confirmed the President’s pronouncements, saying that PSG members even inoculated themselves with Sinopharm.

It was only in February this year that the FDA granted compassionate use permit for 10,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine for the use of PSG members.

A compassionate use permit, however, only allows for legal administration of COVID-19 vaccine in the Philippines and is not tantamount to the FDA endorsing the product’s safety and efficacy. — KBK/RSJ, GMA News