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Secretary of Justice Menardo Guevarra. RESEARCH ARCHIVE / MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
MANILA, Philippines – Those who received the unregistered COVID-19 vaccines will only be liable if they purchase or promote the use of these vaccines, Attorney General Menardo Guevarra said Monday.
“Under our current laws, a person who freely and voluntarily vaccinates with an unregistered or unauthorized drug or vaccine will not incur criminal liability, unless he himself has caused its illegal acquisition or promotes its use by other people,” he said Guevarra.
The Presidential Security Group (PSG) is currently under fire for having inoculated several members of its staff with coronavirus vaccines that have not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
READ: Head of PSG: staff vaccinated already in September without Duterte’s approval
Brig. Head of PSG. General Jesús Durante revealed that the cornered security personnel of President Rodrigo Duterte, with the help of his medical team, administered the vaccines to each other.
Although vaccination is a “matter of personal survival”, the Chief Justice stressed that it is important that the laws on approval and administration of vaccines are strictly respected, “for the benefit of all.”
He pointed out that under FDA law, the manufacture, import, sale, offer for sale, distribution, transfer, promotion, etc. of any health product that is not registered with the FDA is prohibited and punishable by fine and / or imprisonment.
But Guevarra added that those “who knowingly or intentionally administer an unregistered vaccine can be held liable under the 1959 Medical Practice Act.”
The DOJ chief has already ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to carry out an investigation into the smuggling of COVID-19 vaccines into the country.
KGA
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