DILG chief confirms local vaccinations

MANILA, Philippines – It is not illegal to be inoculated with an unauthorized COVID-19 vaccine, Malacañang said on Monday after the Secretary of Home Affairs and the Chief of the Army confirmed that members of the cabinet and security forces received a needle stick for the new coronavirus that he had not yet received to be authorized for use in the Philippines.

What is illegal is distributing the injection commercially without regulatory approval, the Palace said.

Word had spread for weeks that government officials, legislators and soldiers had been vaccinated against COVID-19, but the Department of Health (DOH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had denied it, insisting that the government had not. approved any vaccine for the new coronavirus disease.

But President Duterte revealed during a meeting with health experts on Saturday that many Filipinos, including troops from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, had received the vaccine developed by the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinopharm.

‘It’s not politics yet’

“Almost all the soldiers have been vaccinated. I have to be frank, I have to tell the truth. Many people have been vaccinated and I have not heard of vaccination for a few. But not all soldiers. It’s because it’s not a policy yet, ”Duterte said.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said he had no information on Duterte’s claim, while Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said it was the president’s responsibility to name his sources.

The FDA was adamant in its claim that it had not approved any COVID-19 candidate vaccine.

On Monday, however, the Interior Secretary, Eduardo Año, confirmed in a radio interview that some Cabinet officials and members of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) had been vaccinated against COVID-19.

“I know that some members of the Cabinet and PSG had already received the COVID-19 vaccine,” Ano said, adding that he did not know if the president had also been vaccinated.

The head of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) did not name the vaccine used, but said it was administered under an emergency use authorization (USA).

“Those vaccines have what we call USA, so even if they are not approved yet, we can use them in our healthcare workers and on the front lines during a pandemic,” he said.

In another radio interview, Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana, the army chief, confirmed the vaccinations in the army.

“I know of some [soldiers], but I couldn’t reveal the drive. I know personally that the vaccine was administered to some in the ranks of the [military]”Sobejana said.

He did not say what vaccine had been administered to the troops.

President not vaccinated

Brig. General Jesús Durante, commander of the PSG, also confirmed that the troops of the presidential guard had been vaccinated.

“PSG is the main unit of the [military] that has the mandate to protect the top leader of the nation. With the current pandemic, [the] PSG must make sure they are not themselves [a] threat to the health and safety of the president. As such, the PSG administered the COVID-19 vaccine to its staff, ”said Durante in a statement.

He did not say what vaccine was used, but said that while using the injection was “a risk”, it was part of “PSG’s mission to protect the president.”

Duterte had not received the vaccine, said Durante. “The president is still waiting for the perfect or appropriate vaccine,” he added.

Roque said it was the Sinopharm vaccine and that its use was purely voluntary by the soldiers who had received the injection.

He said he did not know the donor and the circumstances behind the donation.

Not illegal

“The law does not prohibit the use of an unregistered vaccine. What is prohibited is its distribution and sale. This was administered to the soldiers who had accepted it, ”Roque said at a press conference.

“Let us accept that it is important that our soldiers, those who ensure our safety, are safe from COVID so that they can fulfill their duty,” said Roque.

The decision to receive the Sinopharm vaccine, he said, must have been made by the soldiers or their commanders.

“I don’t know if it is sanctioned by the government. It is a personal decision. The decision to get vaccinated or not is always a personal decision, ”he said.

Bayan Muna’s representative, Ferdinand Gaite, disagreed with Roque on the legality of the use of unregistered vaccines.

“[It] is against Republic Law No. 9711, which requires FDA approval. Even if it’s a donation, FDA approval is still needed before using it, ”Gaite said.

Roque explained that the vaccine probably arrived in the country in “very small quantities”, since the importation of commercial quantities would require a license.

“The important thing is that it has a [emergency use authority] from China. The important thing is that this was not officially imported. The important thing is that this was not marketed or distributed. It was delivered, received and administered, ”he said.

Roque said he did not believe the president had been vaccinated, but repeated that Duterte had been asking if he could get the Pfizer vaccine after having received another brand earlier.

He did not confirm the information that the cabinet members had been vaccinated. He himself denied earlier this month that he had been inoculated with the Sinopharm vaccine.

The Secretary of Justice, Menardo Guevarra, the Secretary of the Environment, Roy Cimatu, the Secretary of Agriculture, William Dar, the Secretary of Energy, Alfonso Cusi, and the Secretary of Commerce, Ramón López, all said they had not been vaccinated.

“A big NO,” Guevarra said in a text message to the Inquirer.

The Secretary of Labor, Silvestre Bello III, denied that he was among the cabinet members who had received the Sinopharm vaccine.

“Not me,” said Finance Secretary Carlos Domínguez III, who is in charge of seeking funds to buy COVID-19 vaccines.

When asked if they had been vaccinated, the acting secretary for socioeconomic planning, Karl Kendrick Chua, and the presidential advisor on flagship programs and projects, Vivencio Dizon, answered, “No.”

Vice President Leni Robredo has not been vaccinated, said her spokesman Barry Gutiérrez. Nor has he received any offers to get vaccinated, he added.

Illegal vaccines

The FDA promised to go after distributors of “illegal and unregistered” COVID-19 vaccines.

FDA Director General Eric Domingo said in a television interview that getting vaccinated with an unauthorized vaccine was a “personal choice.”

“There is nothing we can do about it, it is a personal choice. But it is illegal to import unregistered drug, distribute it and for a doctor or a medical practitioner or any health [worker] to administer medicines without a license in the country, ”said Domingo. “So if we catch any of them, [file] cases against him “.

On Monday, the DOH reported 766 additional coronavirus infections, bringing the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country to 470,650.

The DOH said 104 more patients had recovered, bringing the total number of COVID-19 survivors to 438,780. But the death toll rose to 9,124 with the death of 15 more patients.

Deaths and recoveries left the country with 22,476 active cases, of which 80 percent were mild, 10.4 percent asymptomatic, 0.44 percent moderate, 3.2 percent severe, and 6 percent critical. —WITH REPORTS FROM JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE, KATRINA HALLARE, DONA Z. PAZZIBUGAN, BEN O. DE VERA, KRIXIA SUBINGSUBING, AND NESTOR CORRALES

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What you need to know about the coronavirus.

For more information on COVID-19, call the DOH hotline: (02) 86517800 local 1149/1150.

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