FDA asks San Juan solon for information on ‘bootlegged’ Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reached out to San Juan Representative Ronaldo Zamora to seek information on his inoculation with “bootlegged” doses of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine, Director General Eric Domingo said Thursday.

“Sana po maituro sa amin [ang supplier]. Sumulat po ako kay Congressman Zamora, nanghihingi ng impormasyon na makakatulong po sa aming imbestigasyon,” Domingo said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB.

(We hope he can point us to the supplier. I wrote to Congressman Zamora asking for information that will help us in our investigation.)

Zamora earlier admitted that he got two doses of the Sinopharm vaccine in December last year and recently received another two shots of the Pfizer vaccine as “boosters.”

The FDA only granted an emergency use authorization to the Sinopharm jab in June this year.

“Maaaring fake talaga 'yun, maaaring counterfeit or substandard o kaya hindi na-handle properly,” Domingo said.

“Kung pinapasa pasa lamang tapos ibibigay sa’yo, ituturok mo, talagang napakalaki ng chance na by the time makarating ‘yan ay unang una, kung hindi naman siya fake, talagang wala na siyang bisa,” he added.

(If the vaccines were only passed around then administered to you, there’s a really big chance that by the time the vaccine gets to you, it’s no longer effective even if it isn’t fake.)

Domingo has warned that importers and distributors of unauthorized vaccines, as well as health workers who administer them, are criminally liable.

The Department of Health has also urged the public not to mix and match COVID-19 vaccines or get a booster shot yet, stressing the need for more data.

Meanwhile, Domingo said the Presidential Security Group still has not responded to the FDA’s requests for information on their unauthorized vaccination with Sinopharm jabs late last year.—AOL, GMA News