Group warns gov’t not to pin hopes on COVID-19 vaccine from China

Think-tank group Pinoy Aksyon on Tuesday warned the Philippine government not to pin all its hopes on a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine from China.

In a statement, the group expressed concern over almost P250 million worth of defective PPEs, face masks, and other medical equipment, mostly from China, which was seized by the Bureau of Customs in July.

“If the Chinese government was not able to put a stop to the manufacturers and sellers of defective medical supplies, then it’s not far-fetched that someone will try to come up with a fake COVID-19 vaccine that they can sell to Filipinos,” Pinoy Aksyon chairperson BenCryus Ellorin said.

Ellorin also cited reports that China’s second-largest pharmaceutical company admitted that they had falsified test results and produced fake vaccines against the virus.

President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly expressed his hopes for a vaccine, particularly one from China. In his fifth State of the Nation Address, Duterte said he had requested Chinese president Xi Jinping to allow the country to be one of the first to have access to a vaccine produced by China.

The group is pushing for the local production of face masks and personal protective equipment. It also urged the government to give its full support to the research and development efforts of Filipino scientists.

“It is the most patriotic thing to do… It is best if the government invests in self-reliant safety nets so we won’t have to be dependent on China,” Ellorin said. — Joahna Lei Casilao/BM, GMA News