SunStar Duterte apologizes for use of Sinopharm vaccine
MANILA. President Rodrigo Duterte talks to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III before their meeting Wednesday night, May 5, 2021. (Malacañang photo)
+ May 06, 2021 PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has apologized for receiving a dose of the Sinopharm vaccine against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) and asked the Chinese ambassador to withdraw the vaccine.
“So we are sorry. You are right, we are wrong. Ang Sinopharm maybe tomorrow or the following day wala na ‘yan. I made it as a personal request,” Duterte said in another Talk to the People address late Wednesday night, May 5, 2021.
He said his doctor had recommended that he get the Sinopharm vaccine, which was also administered to “all Chinese officials.” Duterte did not name his doctor.
SunStar
File February 12, 2021 THE Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday, February 12, 2021, said the “compassionate special permit” (CSP) issued for the use of 10,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) is for future use and is not retroactive.
The investigation into the unauthorized use of the vaccine by the Presidential Security Group (PSG) is still ongoing, FDA Director General Eric Domingo said in a virtual interview with reporters Friday. That s still ongoing. That has nothing to do with the CSP. The CSP is for future use. It s a forward permit, said Domingo.
He said the issuance of the CSP cannot be used to justify the PSG’s unauthorized use of the vaccine in 2020.