San Juan solon admits getting 'bootleg' Sinopharm jabs before Pfizer shots

San Juan Representative Ronaldo Zamora on Monday admitted that he got vaccinated with two smuggled Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine doses in December last year.

Zamora said this was aside from the two shots of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine he got recently as "boosters."

“Sino nakakuha ng Sinopharm sa Pilipinas? Isa roon si Presidente. Pareho pinagkunan namin, pareho kaming bootleg,” Zamora said during an event announcing San Juan meeting its target of vaccinating 85,000 of its residents against COVID-19.

(Who got Sinopharm doses in the Philippines? Like the President, I got Sinopharm. We got bootleg doses.)

“Si Congressman Zamora, December [2020], nakatanggap na ng dalawang Sinopharm. Sinabihan ako ng mga doctor, you are immunodeficient. Dapat ma-booster shot kayo, gawin na ninyong apat [in total]. Kaya si Congressman Zamora, di na masyadong nagma-mask,” he added.

(I received two Sinopharm doses in December last year. Doctor told me I'm immunodeficient, and that I should get booster shots so there'll be four shots in total. That is why I don't wear face mask that much.)

His son, San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora, justified his father's move by saying it was done based on the recommendation of doctors.

“It was upon his doctor’s orders po. He had quadruple [heart] bypass operation 16 years ago, kidney transplant six years ago. And he is 76 years old,” Mayor Zamora said.

Sinopharm was only issued emergency use authorization by the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last June, or six months after Zamora got his Sinopharm doses.

The Philippines has already vaccinated 13 million individuals, of which 3.52 million are already fully vaccinated.

The country aims to fully vaccinate 58 million individuals in highly urbanized areas to achieve population protection by the end of the year. --KBK, GMA News