Chinese vaccine makers to apply for clearance in the Philippines, as Duterte tries to block probe into illegal inoculations
- Sinopharm and Sinovac have said they will request this week that their vaccines be cleared for emergency use, according to Manila’s ambassador to China
- Meanwhile, the president has lashed out at a Senate attempt to investigate his security team’s use of Chinese-made vaccines that remain technically illegal
Chito Sta. Romana, the Philippines’ ambassador to China, on Monday said state-owned Sinopharm (also known as the China National Pharmaceutical Group) and private firm Sinovac Biotech planned to make the application to the Philippines’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “in the next few days”.
The Sinopharm vaccine was last week approved for general public use in China, while Sinovac is awaiting the results of its phase-three clinical trials.
Delays and missteps: how Duterte’s Philippines struggled against the coronavirus
Speaking during an online briefing conducted by the presidential palace in Manila, Sta. Romana said he had “no knowledge” about the Chinese-made vaccine used by Duterte’s Presidential Security Group (PSG). “We’re also curious to know, but unfortunately we were not involved,” he told reporters.
During a televised address on Monday night, Duterte denied covering up the issue, and lashed out at the Senate’s attempt to investigate the unauthorised inoculations and summon the PSG chief to appear and explain the unit’s actions.
“I am prepared to defend my soldiers. I will not allow them, for all of their good intention, to be brutalised in the hearing,” the president said, ordering Durante to “not obey the summons” and “stay put in the barracks”.
In response, the Armed Forces of the Philippines on Tuesday announced it would no longer investigate the matter.
Defence secretary Delfin Lorenzana last week called the PSG’s move “justified” even as he said the vaccines the unit gave themselves as far back as September, without his knowledge, had been “smuggled” into the Philippines.
Duterte’s security team receives Chinese Covid-19 vaccine not yet approved by Philippine regulators
The FDA has not approved a Covid-19 vaccine – making the importation, distribution and sale of one illegal – and it has warned of potential dangers from using vaccines it has not cleared. It said it was working with the Bureau of Customs to determine how the vaccines used by the PSG were brought into the country. So far, only Pfizer has officially applied for emergency use authorisation in the Philippines.
The Chinese embassy in Manila has not reacted to the PSG chief’s admission that they had used Chinese vaccines.
In a separate online forum on Monday, a Filipino-Chinese community leader said Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) had been vaccinating their Chinese workers in Manila from as early as November, with 100,000 inoculated so far.
03:57
Coronavirus: what we know so far about the new strain of Covid-19
“[In] mid-December, we got to hear how prevalent it is,” said Teresita Ang-See, founding chair of Kaisa, an NGO that helps ethnic Chinese Filipinos integrate into mainstream society.
Responding to reports of Ang-See’s comments, presidential spokesman Roque said on Monday during the same online Palace forum with Sta. Romana if the vaccinations had indeed occurred, “that’s good [because there are] 100,000 fewer possible carriers of Covid-19”.
Duterte has previously said that according to his appointed vaccine tsar, Carlito Galvez Jnr, the Philippines could obtain a vaccine as early as March.
A senior government official with knowledge on the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Galvez was directly negotiating with Chinese companies on the roll-out of their vaccines in the Philippines.
In Duterte’s budget for Philippines, critics see skewed priorities and a Covid-19 shortfall
“The Philippine strategy is basically a procurement strategy,” he said. “Other countries, like Indonesia, Brazil, Turkey and Bahrain, pursued a strategy of clinical trials with Chinese companies, combined with joint production of vaccines and also procurement. The Philippine strategy is mainly due to its relatively limited resources compared with these countries.”
The source said he saw no link between the purchasing of Chinese vaccines and “the South China Sea issue. What the Chinese want to gain is more goodwill from the Philippine public and hopefully less ill will and distrust. Linking vaccines with the South China Sea will not work at all and will simply backfire on China.”
Meanwhile, at least nine major Philippine cities and the province of Cavite have announced they would use local government funds to buy vaccines from various foreign suppliers to be used for medical frontliners, senior citizens and the poor.
Additional reporting by Reuters
